25 countries successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, showing that rapid progress is attainable. These include Cambodia, China, Congo, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Serbia, and Viet Nam. The latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) estimates for 110 countries reveals. Notably, India saw a remarkable poverty reduction, with 415 million people exiting poverty within just 15 years.
How has poverty changed?
The analysis of trends from 2000 to 2022, focused on 81 countries with comparable data over time. 72 of 81 countries, covering well over 5 billion people, experienced a significant absolute reduction in MPI value during at least one period. But nearly all data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many as 415 million Indians moved out of poverty in the 15-year period between 2005/2006 and 2019/2021. Many people were lifted out of poverty in China (2010–14, 69 million) and Indonesia (2012–17, 8 million). Countries halved their MPI in periods as short as four to 12 years, demonstrating the feasibility of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of halving poverty according to national definitions within 15 years.
Who are the poorest?
Despite these encouraging trends, 485 million poor people live in severe poverty across 110 countries, experiencing 50–100% of weighted deprivations. Half of the 1.1 billion poor people (566 million) are children under 18. 84% of all poor people live in rural areas. Rural areas are more impoverished than urban areas in every world region.
824–991 million out of the 1.1 billion poor people do not have adequate sanitation, housing, or cooking fuel. 600 million poor people live with a person who is undernourished in their household. In 42 of 61 countries, more people live in multidimensional poverty, based on the global MPI, than in extreme monetary poverty, based on the World
Bank’s $ 2.15-a-day measure.
The global MPI is a key international resource that measures acute multidimensional poverty across more than 100 developing countries.
According to the 2023 release, 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people (just over 18%) live in acute multidimensional poverty across 110 countries. Sub-Saharan Africa (534 million) and South Asia (389 million) are home to approximately five out of every six poor people.
Nearly two-thirds of all poor people (730 million people) live in middle-income countries, making action in these countries vital for reducing global poverty. Although low-income countries constitute only 10% of the population included in the MPI, these are where 35% of all poor people reside.
More than two-fifths of poor people experience severe poverty
India’s Journey: From High Poverty Incidence to Impressive Decline
In 2005/2006, India faced a poverty incidence of 55.1%. During this time, approximately 645 million people were living in poverty. However, through concerted efforts and effective policies, India has witnessed a significant decline in poverty rates. The latest figures show that the poverty incidence has dropped to 16.4% in 2019/2021. This demonstrates a substantial improvement in the living conditions of millions of individuals and families.
