1.85b in Asia-Pacific live on less than $2 a day

The number of people living in extreme poverty -- less than one dollar a day -- was estimated at 621 million or 19.3 percent of the population, down from 688 million in 2002, the Manila-based organisation said in a report.

Job generation had lagged behind the region's impressive economic growth, it added.

"Much of the region's overall success in recent years is the result of a dramatic reduction in poverty in (China)," it said in its annual Key Indicators publication.

The data is based on 2003 figures, which the ADB says is the most recent year for which sufficient data is available.

The percentage of the Asia-Pacific population who lived on a dollar a day in 2003 could fall to between 2.9 and 6.7 percent of the population by 2015 if growth remained strong, it said.

The proportion living on two dollars a day in 2003 could fall to between 28.6 and 35.9 percent by 2015 under similar circumstances, ADB projections showed.

"Even under the most favourable scenario... there would still be one billion Asians who would live on less than two dollars a day (by 2015)," the ADB said.

"Although Asian governments are making significant progress in the fight against poverty the latest data clearly shows reducing poverty remains a central challenge facing the region," the ADB's chief economist Ifzal Ali said in a statement.

The report said that despite the impressive region-wide reduction in poverty, large disparities still remain among countries.