Commodity price falls mean poorest countries miss UN poverty goals

Unctad reports weakest year of GDP growth in 20 years for least developed nations, scuppering hopes that half would escape extreme poverty by 2020

Hopes that half of the world's 48 least developed nations could emerge from extreme poverty by the end of the decade have been dashed after a UN body reported the weakest year of growth in more than 20 years.

The UN conference on trade and development (Unctad) said plunging commodity prices had hit the group of least developed countries hard, with 13 of them suffering a fall in living standards in 2015.

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