However, thanks to the impressive growth performance of several emerging countries in the region, the incidence of poverty has fallen by more than half, leaving less than 20 per cent of the population in extreme poverty in 2011. The overall global population living in extreme poverty has decreased by approximately 1 billion people between 1990 and 2011. Asia and the Pacific has lead the global success in the reduction of poverty over the last two decades. In other words, the population living in extreme poverty in the region declined from about 1.6 billion in 1990 to 0.7 billion in 2011, despite an overall population growth of approximately 0.9 billion in the same period.