SINGAPORE -- Poverty will rise throughout emerging Asia outside of China for the second straight year in 2021, the World Bank projects, as the protracted coronavirus pandemic squeezes employment and educational opportunities in the region.
The number of poor -- those earning $5.50 or less a day -- across 22 developing countries in East Asia and the Pacific increased to 264 million in 2020 from 259 million the year before, and that figure will reach 266 million in 2021, according to a World Bank report published this week.
