this implies that the number of poor persons fell by approximately million in while the number of indigents remained practically constant extreme poverty also fell appreciably by percentage points since although in this case the rate of reduction has slowed in recent years owing mainly to a steeper rise in food costs than in headline inflation the second subperiod which started in shows a slowdown in the rate of reduction of the number of incomepoor persons which fell to per year in the case of poverty and to per year in the case of indigence