translate English to French: The national poverty rate was reduced, for the first time in history, to under 20 per cent of the population in 2006, and has since remained below that figure; it reached 16.5 percent before the world financial crisis and now stands at 18.5 percent.
Le taux de pauvreté national a été inférieur à 20 % pour la première fois en 2006, et l'est resté depuis.