No surprise, it’s growth, and there’s no growth as profound as that from capitalism:
Almost all of the fall in the poverty rate should be attributed to economic growth. Fast-growing economies in the developing world have done most of the work. Between 1981 and 2001 China lifted 680m people out of poverty. Since 2000, the acceleration of growth in developing countries has cut the numbers in extreme poverty outside China by 280m.
Via The Economist explains: How did the global poverty rate halve in 20 years? | The Economist.