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Global Multidimensional Poverty Index

  • 14 Jul 2023

On July 11, 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford released the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

The key findings are:

  • India's Achievement: India witnessed a remarkable reduction in poverty, with 415 million people moving out of poverty within a span of just 15 years, from 2005/2006 to 2019/2021.
  • Rapid Progress: 25 countries, including India, successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, demonstrating that rapid progress in poverty reduction is achievable.
  • Other countries that achieved this milestone include Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Vietnam.
  • Fastest Absolute Progress: The report highlights that the poorest states and groups, including children and people from disadvantaged caste groups, witnessed the fastest absolute progress.
  • Deprivations in nutrition, child mortality, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, and housing showed significant improvements.
  • Global Poverty Statistics: At approximately 1.1 billion people, just over 18% of the global population, live in acute multidimensional poverty across 110 countries.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to about five out of every six poor people.
  • Children and Rural Poverty: Children under the age of 18 account for half of the MPI-poor people, with a poverty rate of 27.7%. Poverty predominantly affects rural areas, with 84% of all poor people residing in rural regions.
  • Impact of COVID-19: The report acknowledges the challenges in assessing the immediate prospects and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the lack of comprehensive data during the pandemic period.
  • However, in some countries such as Mexico, Madagascar, Cambodia, Peru, and Nigeria, where data were available, there were indications of continued progress in poverty reduction, offering hope amid the pandemic.
  • Data Collection and Policy Efforts: As per the report there's need for intensified efforts in data collection and policy measures to comprehend the dimensions most negatively affected by the pandemic and to get poverty reduction back on track.
  • It also calls for improved data on multidimensional poverty, particularly concerning the impacts on children, to inform effective interventions.
  • Data Accessibility and Solvability: The report highlights the scarcity of data on multidimensional poverty for a significant portion of the global population and urges funders and data scientists to work towards making breakthroughs in poverty data collection.