The increased cost-of-living crisis sparked by surging inflation last year, combined with the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, is continuing to push people in Asia and the Pacific into extreme poverty, according to this new report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). An estimated 155.2 million people in developing Asia and the Pacific, or 3.9% of the region’s population, lived in extreme poverty as of last year, according to Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2023. The number is 67.8 million greater than it would have been without the pandemic and the increased cost of living crisis, according to the report. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $2.15 a day, based on 2017 prices and adjusted for purchasing power and inflation.