How many people in the world have no shoes at all?

http://donateyouroldshoes.org/
According to this, there must be at least 25,000

42. What was you teacher looking for, exactly?

Perhaps a better question is, “how many people need shoes?” Man has been going barefoot since before he could write; it’s worked out pretty well. Unless you live in especially cold climates or in particularly sharp country, shoes are a luxury item.

Guard well your heartstrings, young Padawan. There is no end to those who would pull them.

These people will give you your answer… http://shoesforhumanity.org/

If you want to get kind of “freakonomical” about this, you could come up with a number on your own.

1. Calculate the number of people who have no legs or feet, and start with that base.

2. Add to that number the estimate of newborns for, oh, the past week or so.

Those numbers shouldn’t be too hard to estimate with a fair degree of accuracy.

3. Figure the number of people worldwide who exist on less than $1 per day (you can find published estimates online for various countries, and arrive at a decent estimate), and then do a rough calculation: Of that number, probably no children under about ten years old or so would have need of shoes, so add them. Figure that probably 90% of the adult women in that population have no shoes, and add them. You can make your own estimate of the men: do some of them do something that might require shoes? But I’d say maybe 75% of the men don’t have shoes either.

There. You’ve come up with your own estimate, your own documentation, and you can refine and perfect it from now until Doomsday.

@CyanoticWasp I am…humbled. I stand, no by god, I kneel in reverent awe! Best answer ever!

@CyanoticWasp I agree with @Trillian

@CyanoticWasp is that what Freakonomics is about? I gotta get that book ;) thanks everyone!

according to the net there are some 300m people running around barefooted, however I am inclined to believe that there are more, when you look into societies in Asia, Africa and South America. I am includes as well being an individuum of the “western world” (ok, not 100%)