<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Covid-19 has dealt the "biggest setback" to global poverty reduction efforts in decades, and the World Bank warned Wednesday that the goal to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030 likely remains out-of-reach.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>Poverty rose sharply during the pandemic, and the development lender estimates about 70 million people were pushed into extreme poverty in 2020 -- the biggest one-year spike since monitoring began in 1990.</div><div><br></div><div>The report offers the first tally of those struggling to live on less than $2.15 a day, the new global definition of extreme poverty, but follows many warnings from the global development lender that poorer nations are being left behind.</div><div><br></div><div>Earlier this year the institution warned that as many 95 million people would fall back into extreme poverty by the end of this year.</div><div><br></div><div>War in Ukraine, rising inflation and slowing global growth have put further pressure on the bank's mission to lift people out of poverty.</div><div><br></div><div>Amid the setbacks the report projects global extreme poverty rate for 2030 will only fall to seven percent, or nearly 600 million people.</div><div><br></div><div>Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 60 percent of all people in extreme poverty, according to the bank, reports AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Income losses of the world's poorest countries were twice as high as in their richer counterparts, causing global inequality to rise for the first time in decades, the report said.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>