MORE than one billion people in the world live in acute poverty, over half are children and nearly 40 per cent live in conflict-torn and fragile countries, according to a damning new report released on Thursday.

The report by the United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford in Britain also said that more than 83 per cent of poor people live in rural areas.

The report also said that 83 per cent of those in acute poverty live in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia.