Although economic growth has reduced South Asia’s poverty rate, it has not fallen fast enough to reduce the total number of poor people. The number of people living on less than $1.25 a day increased from 549 million in 1981 to 595 million in 2005. In India, which accounts for almost three-quarters of this population, the numbers increased from 420 million to 455 million during this period. Besides the slow pace of poverty reduction, human development has not kept up with pace of income growth, either.
虽然经济发展以降低了南亚的贫困率，但其速度尚不足以减少贫困人口总数。在这里，每天生活费不足1.25美元的人口从1981年的5.49亿增加到2005年的5.95亿。在这些人口中，印度占了近3/4，这一时期的相应数字也从4.2亿增加到4.55亿。除了减贫速度缓慢之外，人类发展也没有跟上收入增长的步伐。
