United Nations, September 3 (RHC)-- The coronavirus crisis will push 47 million more women and girls into extreme poverty and widen the gender poverty gap, according to a United Nations report.

Initial estimates had once pointed to a 2.7 percent decrease in the poverty rate for women between 2019 and 2021. However, due to the pandemic, it is now expected to increase by 9.1 percent.

The data by UN Women and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) show that there will be 118 women for every 100 men aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty by 2021. The gap is expected to widen to 121 women per 100 men by 2030.

The crisis will push 96 million people below the poverty line by 2021, nearly half of whom are women and girls, according to the report.