685 million could be living in extreme poverty by 2022-end: World Bank

733 million people currently have no access to electricity and by 2030, 670 million people will remain without it, says World Bank's latest report

The world is in its "steepest slowdown" since 1970 and 685 million people could be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2022, a report by World Bank said on Tuesday. This would make 2022 the second-worst year for poverty reduction in the past two decades, after 2020.

The "2022 in Nine Charts" report said that 7 per cent of the world's population-roughly 574 million—will be in extreme poverty in 2030. It is shorter than the global goal of 3 per cent set earlier by the World Bank.

"In addition to the lingering effects of the pandemic, rising food