Pandemic sends 4.7 million more people into extreme poverty in SE Asia - ADB

FILE PHOTO: Residents of a small apartment building do house chores outside their units, amid the lockdown to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in a slum area in Tondo, Manila, Philippines, May 4, 2020. REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez/File Photo

MANILA (Reuters) - The pandemic added 4.7 million more people to Southeast Asia's most extreme poor in 2021, reversing gains made in fighting poverty, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday, while urging governments to take steps to boost economic growth.

The number of people in extreme poverty - defined as those living on less than $1.90 a day - was 24.3 million last year, or 3.7% of Southeast Asia's collective 650 million population, the ADB said in a report.