This paper revisits, with new data, the changes in the distribution of global poverty towards middle-income countries (MICs). In doing so it discusses an implied "poverty paradox" - the fact that most of the world's extreme poor no longer live in the world's poorest countries.

The paper also discusses what factors are behind the shift in global poverty towards middle-income countries and how sensitive the distribution of global poverty is to the thresholds for middle-income classification. The paper concludes with implications for research related to poverty.