NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – The latest assessment reveals a rise in global multidimensional poverty for the first time since measurements began in 2010. According to the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, 1.2 billion individuals are experiencing severe deprivation across 108 nations. This figure accounts for 18.9% of the 6.3 billion people included in the study. The total number affected has increased by 51.5 million compared to the previous update. Unlike income-based measures, these findings evaluate hardships related to health, education, and living standards.
Produced by the United Nations Development Programme alongside the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, the report analyzes ten indicators. These cover aspects such as nutrition, child mortality, schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, and household assets. The index considers a person multidimensionally poor when their weighted deprivations reach at least one-third of the total. This approach captures multiple concurrent hardships affecting households.
Children make up more than half of those identified as multidimensionally impoverished worldwide, with approximately 617 million children affected—51.5% of the global total. Nearly one-third of children included in the index face multidimensional poverty. The burden is significantly higher in rural areas, where roughly 83% of all multidimensionally poor individuals reside. These figures underscore ongoing gaps in basic services, education, and living conditions in numerous countries.
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion
The region of Sub-Saharan Africa is home to approximately 616 million people living in multidimensional poverty, surpassing any other region. This group represents 51.4% of the region’s population covered by the index. The 2026 report incorporates new survey data from 13 countries and provides subnational estimates for 1,360 regions across 100 countries. Population data updates also influenced the results, especially in countries lacking recent household surveys. In 95 of these nations, demographic revisions added 15.8 million individuals to the poverty tally.
National trends vary significantly among countries with comparable historical data. Some nations, such as Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan, have seen declines in both their multidimensional poverty rates and the number of affected people. Angola and Zambia also reduced the share of their populations living in multidimensional poverty, though population growth caused total numbers to rise. Conversely, Nigeria experienced increases in both its poverty rate and affected population after earlier improvements. These disparities illustrate that global figures can mask diverse national patterns.
Persistent reductions in poverty are evident in several nations
Historical data also highlights notable declines in multidimensional poverty in various regions. Out of 89 countries with trend data, 33 have halved their MPI values within 15 years. Six of these are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eswatini reduced its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0%. China saw the most rapid decrease, with its MPI dropping from 9.5% to 4.2% between 2010 and 2014. Viet Nam also achieved a twofold reduction within seven years.
The figure of 1.2 billion differs from global estimates based solely on income poverty. Multidimensional poverty encompasses multiple disadvantages that can occur simultaneously, such as inadequate education, poor nutrition, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to electricity or clean water. As a result, this measure provides a more comprehensive view of deprivation than income thresholds alone. The 2026 findings emphasize that children, rural communities, and Sub-Saharan Africa remain at the forefront of the recent global increase in poverty.