World Bank: More than a Quarter of Syrians Live in "Extreme Poverty"

More than a quarter of Syrians live in extreme poverty, according to the World Bank, after 13 years of a devastating conflict that has led to consecutive economic crises and made millions of residents unable to secure their basic needs. The World Bank, which published two reports on Syria, stated, "More than a decade of conflict has led to a significant deterioration in the well-being of Syrian households," noting that "27 percent of Syrians, or about 5.7 million people, live in extreme poverty." It added, "Although extreme poverty did not actually exist before the outbreak of the conflict, it affected more than one in four Syrians in 2022, possibly exacerbated by the devastating effects of the February 2023 earthquake," which claimed the lives of around six thousand people across Syria. Previous estimates by the United Nations indicated that "two million Syrians live in extreme poverty after a decade of war, while the majority of Syrians live below the poverty line."