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A large majority of poor people (around three quarters) live in Very Low Aid or Low Aid Countries (VLACs and LACs) and have done for at least two decades.
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7 out of 10 of the world’s poorest countries have seen aid levels fall as a proportion of GNI.
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More poor people, not fewer, now live in countries more dependent on aid.
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About three quarters of the world’s poorest live in countries that receive less than 2% of their annual income in aid.
By considering the geography of poverty through the lens of aid as a proportion of GNI, rather than the more usual standard-of-living metrics, this Background Note presents figures that indicate the necessity of further research on the role and purpose of aid.