Instead, this chapter focuses on the role of structural transformation in reducing poverty as the title of this report indicates. The total number of people living in extreme poverty, based on the purchasing power parity (PPP) yardstick of $1.90 per day, declined from a peak of 144 million in 1999 to 44.6 million in 2015. Today, the average poverty headcount ratio in these economies is 11.1 per cent, compared with 45.7 per cent in 1999.