Amid Sri Lanka\u2019s slow recovery from its worst economic crisis in decades, a post styled as a \u2018Dinamina\u2019 newspaper article began circulating on social media, claiming the World Bank had ranked the country the world\u2019s second poorest. The claim was politically loaded: some versions blamed the current government, while others used a 2024 date stamp to pin the label on the previous administration. Because it carried the masthead of an established state newspaper and invoked a familiar global institution, it spread quickly and convincingly. The following is our fact-check of that fake post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Social Media Posts<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\nThe post circulated by presenting itself as a recent newspaper clipping from a Dinamina article under the headline \u201cSri Lanka named second among the poorest countries, says World Bank<\/em>,\u201d while suggesting that the current government was responsible for the situation. It was shared as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/unnamed-4.jpg\")
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Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Archived Link<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe same post was also shared in one place dated 8 January 2024 and in another dated 1 May 2025. Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nAnother set of posts, pointing to the 2024 date shown in these screenshots, argued that Sri Lanka had been labelled the world\u2019s second poorest country during the previous government\u2019s term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-20.png\")
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Accordingly, we set out to verify two things: whether this post had genuinely been published in the Dinamina newspaper, either recently or two years ago, and whether Sri Lanka had at any point been ranked among the world\u2019s poorest countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fact-Check<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\nWe found that no mainstream media outlet had reported for 2024, 2025 or 2026 that Sri Lanka had been placed second among the world\u2019s poorest countries, and that neither the World Bank nor any other recognized official international body had announced any such ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sri Lanka Is Classified as a Lower-Middle-Income Country<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThe World Bank does not officially rank the world\u2019s countries as 1, 2 or 3 by poverty. Instead, it publishes each country\u2019s poverty figures and economic data separately. It also groups countries into four main categories based on gross national income per capita: low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income, and high-income economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 2024 and 2025, the World Bank classified Sri Lanka as a lower-middle-income country, above the lowest category of low-income and nowhere does it state that Sri Lanka ranks second in poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-22.png\")
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World Bank<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Have Sri Lanka\u2019s Poverty Rates Fared Over the Past Few Years?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nLooking at Sri Lanka\u2019s poverty history, the national poverty rate stood at 11.3% in 2019. Because of the economic crisis that struck in 2022, according to the World Bank<\/a>, the rate climbed to 25% between 2021 and 2022 and rose further to 27.1% in 2023 when the crisis peaked. Yet even at this peak, Sri Lanka remained far below the levels seen in the world\u2019s poorest countries, such as South Sudan (82.3%).<\/p>\n\n\n\nBy 2024, as the economy recovered and recorded 5% growth, the poverty rate fell to 24.5%. According to World Bank estimates<\/a>, it was expected to ease to about 22.7% by 2025 and to around 20% over the medium term. In other words, Sri Lanka\u2019s poverty trend has been downward, not upward.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn terms of GDP per capita, the figure for 2024 was about US$4,500. Under the World Bank\u2019s income classification<\/a>, this confirms that Sri Lanka belongs to the \u201clower-middle-income\u201d category. Since per capita income in the world\u2019s poorest countries sits below US$600, by income classification too Sri Lanka is nowhere near that group.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWorld Population Review Data Also Does Not Place Sri Lanka Among the World\u2019s Poorest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nUsing the official data published by the World Bank, other private institutions, universities, and websites produce their own rankings. The World Population Review<\/a> ranking for 2026 lists the five countries with the highest poverty rates, in order, as South Sudan (82.3%), Madagascar (75.2%), Eritrea (69%), the Central African Republic (68.8%) and Mozambique (65%).<\/p>\n\n\n\nIt should be noted that the figures used by World Population Review for each country belong to different years, reflecting the most recent year, for which each country last confirmed and supplied official data to the World Bank. Using that data, the organization arranged the countries with the highest poverty rates for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Similarly, according to a global research body such as SAPA USA<\/a>, the ten countries with the highest share of their population living in poverty for 2026 were as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Archived Link<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The same post was also shared in one place dated 8 January 2024 and in another dated 1 May 2025. Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <\/strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Another set of posts, pointing to the 2024 date shown in these screenshots, argued that Sri Lanka had been labelled the world\u2019s second poorest country during the previous government\u2019s term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Accordingly, we set out to verify two things: whether this post had genuinely been published in the Dinamina newspaper, either recently or two years ago, and whether Sri Lanka had at any point been ranked among the world\u2019s poorest countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We found that no mainstream media outlet had reported for 2024, 2025 or 2026 that Sri Lanka had been placed second among the world\u2019s poorest countries, and that neither the World Bank nor any other recognized official international body had announced any such ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The World Bank does not officially rank the world\u2019s countries as 1, 2 or 3 by poverty. Instead, it publishes each country\u2019s poverty figures and economic data separately. It also groups countries into four main categories based on gross national income per capita: low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income, and high-income economies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For 2024 and 2025, the World Bank classified Sri Lanka as a lower-middle-income country, above the lowest category of low-income and nowhere does it state that Sri Lanka ranks second in poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n World Bank<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking at Sri Lanka\u2019s poverty history, the national poverty rate stood at 11.3% in 2019. Because of the economic crisis that struck in 2022, according to the World Bank<\/a>, the rate climbed to 25% between 2021 and 2022 and rose further to 27.1% in 2023 when the crisis peaked. Yet even at this peak, Sri Lanka remained far below the levels seen in the world\u2019s poorest countries, such as South Sudan (82.3%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n By 2024, as the economy recovered and recorded 5% growth, the poverty rate fell to 24.5%. According to World Bank estimates<\/a>, it was expected to ease to about 22.7% by 2025 and to around 20% over the medium term. In other words, Sri Lanka\u2019s poverty trend has been downward, not upward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of GDP per capita, the figure for 2024 was about US$4,500. Under the World Bank\u2019s income classification<\/a>, this confirms that Sri Lanka belongs to the \u201clower-middle-income\u201d category. Since per capita income in the world\u2019s poorest countries sits below US$600, by income classification too Sri Lanka is nowhere near that group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Using the official data published by the World Bank, other private institutions, universities, and websites produce their own rankings. The World Population Review<\/a> ranking for 2026 lists the five countries with the highest poverty rates, in order, as South Sudan (82.3%), Madagascar (75.2%), Eritrea (69%), the Central African Republic (68.8%) and Mozambique (65%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It should be noted that the figures used by World Population Review for each country belong to different years, reflecting the most recent year, for which each country last confirmed and supplied official data to the World Bank. Using that data, the organization arranged the countries with the highest poverty rates for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, according to a global research body such as SAPA USA<\/a>, the ten countries with the highest share of their population living in poverty for 2026 were as follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nFact-Check<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Sri Lanka Is Classified as a Lower-Middle-Income Country<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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World Population Review Data Also Does Not Place Sri Lanka Among the World\u2019s Poorest<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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