Côte D'ivoire - Poverty and wealth



In 1998, it was estimated that 17.5 percent of the population lived below the dollar-a-day poverty line (this line is based on the income required to provide the absolute minimum nutrition, clothing, and shelter). It means that 24 percent of the children under 5 years of age are malnourished (the figure is 1 percent in the United States), and life expectancy is 47 years (in the United States it is 77 years). However, poverty levels are markedly better in Côte d'Ivoire than nearby Senegal, which has almost exactly the same level of average income per head but has 34 percent below the dollar-a-day

Distribution of Income or Consumption by Percentage Share: Côte d'Ivoire
Lowest 10% 3.1
Lowest 20% 7.1
Second 20% 11.2
Third 20% 15.6
Fourth 20% 21.9
Highest 20% 44.3
Highest 10% 28.8
Survey year: 1995
Note: This information refers to expenditure shares by percentiles of the population and is ranked by per capita expenditure.
SOURCE : 2000 World Development Indicators [CD-ROM].

Household Consumption in PPP Terms
Country All food Clothing and footwear Fuel and power a Health care b Education b Transport & Communications Other
Côte d'Ivoire 30 7 4 1 18 8 32
United States 13 9 9 4 6 8 51
Nigeria 51 5 31 2 8 2 2
Ghana N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Data represent percentage of consumption in PPP terms.
a Excludes energy used for transport.
b Includes government and private expenditures.
SOURCE : World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000.

poverty line. Almost all those in poverty are in the rural areas, relying on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods, and suffering because of poor land, inadequate rainfall, and not enough income to purchase good seeds, fertilizer, or farm machinery.

The GDP per capita was at US$1,730 in 1998, relatively high for the region. Nevertheless, this placed Côte d'Ivoire in the low-income category of countries and is put in perspective by the US$29,340 level of the GDP per head for the United States. As with most developing countries, there is considerable income inequality, with the poorest 10 percent of the country's population sharing only 2.8 percent of the country's household income while the share for the richest 10 percent is 28.5 percent.

The UN's Human Development Index (HDI), which attempts to measure the quality of life on the basis of real GDP per head, the adult literacy rate, and life expectancy at birth, placed Côte d'Ivoire at 154 out of 174 countries in 1999, firmly in the low human development category.

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