Issues

Social and Economic Issues Burkina Faso has one of the highest levels of poverty in the world. Almost half the country’s population lives below the poverty line. The country appears at 134th place out of 137 countries ranked in the Child Development Index. Although many social and economic indicators have improved in recent years, they remain below the average for low-income countries as a group. Economic growth has been sustained over the last few years before the economic crisis but it is not clear that this growth is having a significant effect in reducing the proportion of the population who live in poverty. The level and prevalence of poverty is far higher in rural areas than urban ones; but urban poverty has increased dramatically in recent years. More than one in every 13 poor people now lives in urban areas.