UN Study Shows Poverty Levels Rising

The number of poor people in Syria has risen substantially over the past three years, and 2.7 million of the country’s 19 million people now live under the poverty line, the pro-government website Syria Tomorrow reported on November 23.



Citing a report issued by the United Nations Development Programme last month, the website said the proportion of people living in poverty increased to 14 per cent in 2007, up from 11 per cent in 2004.



Individuals living on the equivalent of 30 to 40 US dollars a month were considered to be below the poverty line in both studies.



Syria Tomorrow noted that while economists saw the solution in purely in terms of economic growth, gross domestic product per capita had in fact increased in recent years, but the wealth was spread more unevenly than before; hence the larger number of poor people.



The website suggested that true poverty levels might be higher than the UNDP report indicated, since the study did not take inflation into account.