Microsoft founder Bill Gates delivered an uplifting message in his annual newsletter while snowy Davos prepared to get ready for another World Economic Forum, CNBC reported.
The 25-page report, written by Gates and his wife Melinda, who are co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, argued that the world is a better place than it has ever been before.
By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world, Gates predicted by using today's World Bank classification of low-income countries - even after adjusting for inflation.
"Poor countries are not doomed to stay poor. Some of the so-called developing nations have already developed," he said in his annual note, published on Tuesday. "I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world."
According to CNBC, almost all countries will be "lower-middle income" or richer by this point in time, Gates said.
Innovations like new vaccines, better seeds, and the digital revolution will benefit countries and also help them learn from their most productive neighbors, CNBC reported.
"By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives. Extreme poverty rates have been cut in half in the past 25 years. Child mortality is plunging. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient," he said.
On Friday, Gates will be back at Davos to address myths about global development, and will challenge its most vocal critics.
The three biggest myths, according to Gates, are that poor countries are doomed to stay poor, that foreign aid is a big waste and that saving lives leads to overpopulation.
He makes the opposite case by using data from academics, the World Bank and the United Nations, to argue that the world is getting better, CNBC reported.
"I understand why people might hold these negative views. This is what they see in the news. Bad news happens in dramatic events that are easy for reporters to cover," he said. "Countries are getting richer, but it's hard to capture that on video. Health is improving, but there's no press conference for children who did not die of malaria."
Between 1990 and 2010, the extreme poverty rate was halved, according to the World Bank's preliminary estimates. This meant that 21 percent of people in the developing world lived on or below $1.25 a day, down from 43 percent in 1990 and 52 percent in 1981, CNBC reported.
By 2030, a goal of decreasing the global extreme poverty rate to no more than three percent was set by the World Bank.
Being no stranger to the World Economic Forum, Gates had outlined his concerns that austerity measures could hit public funding for deadly diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV at last year's event.
"The money that helps out the poorest overwhelmingly comes from government aid budgets," Gates told CNBC at last year's Davos, adding that it was unclear what kind of priority aid will have in future budgets.
The 25-page report, written by Gates and his wife Melinda, who are co-chairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, argued that the world is a better place than it has ever been before.
By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world, Gates predicted by using today's World Bank classification of low-income countries - even after adjusting for inflation.
"Poor countries are not doomed to stay poor. Some of the so-called developing nations have already developed," he said in his annual note, published on Tuesday. "I am optimistic enough about this that I am willing to make a prediction. By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world."
According to CNBC, almost all countries will be "lower-middle income" or richer by this point in time, Gates said.
Innovations like new vaccines, better seeds, and the digital revolution will benefit countries and also help them learn from their most productive neighbors, CNBC reported.
"By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been. People are living longer, healthier lives. Extreme poverty rates have been cut in half in the past 25 years. Child mortality is plunging. Many nations that were aid recipients are now self-sufficient," he said.
On Friday, Gates will be back at Davos to address myths about global development, and will challenge its most vocal critics.
The three biggest myths, according to Gates, are that poor countries are doomed to stay poor, that foreign aid is a big waste and that saving lives leads to overpopulation.
He makes the opposite case by using data from academics, the World Bank and the United Nations, to argue that the world is getting better, CNBC reported.
"I understand why people might hold these negative views. This is what they see in the news. Bad news happens in dramatic events that are easy for reporters to cover," he said. "Countries are getting richer, but it's hard to capture that on video. Health is improving, but there's no press conference for children who did not die of malaria."
Between 1990 and 2010, the extreme poverty rate was halved, according to the World Bank's preliminary estimates. This meant that 21 percent of people in the developing world lived on or below $1.25 a day, down from 43 percent in 1990 and 52 percent in 1981, CNBC reported.
By 2030, a goal of decreasing the global extreme poverty rate to no more than three percent was set by the World Bank.
Being no stranger to the World Economic Forum, Gates had outlined his concerns that austerity measures could hit public funding for deadly diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV at last year's event.
"The money that helps out the poorest overwhelmingly comes from government aid budgets," Gates told CNBC at last year's Davos, adding that it was unclear what kind of priority aid will have in future budgets.
window.NREUM||(NREUM={});NREUM.info={"beacon":"beacon-2.newrelic.com","licenseKey":"82cf1d7dd7","applicationID":"3265645","transactionName":"Y1ZRMRdUWEsEVBFZW1ocZhcMGkZUEFAMXhtRV1oRCkcZUhZUF1lEQEAcEQxbT2cIVAAfRFhGVAwLRhlIBEQRVRtWX1ILDhteTAg=","queueTime":0,"applicationTime":0,"ttGuid":"","agentToken":"","userAttributes":"","errorBeacon":"jserror.newrelic.com","agent":"js-agent.newrelic.com/nr-283.min.js"} // -->
