NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – For the first time since its inception in 2010, global multidimensional poverty has shown an increase. The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index reveals that 1.2 billion individuals are experiencing severe poverty across 108 nations. This accounts for 18.9% of the 6.3 billion people covered in the research. The overall figure has grown by 51.5 million from the previous update. Unlike traditional income-based measures, this index considers difficulties in health, education, and living conditions.
Produced by the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, the latest analysis examines ten indicators, including nutrition, child mortality, education levels, school attendance, and cooking fuels. It also evaluates sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, and household assets. The index classifies individuals as multidimensionally poor if their combined deprivations meet or exceed one-third of the total weighted criteria. This approach captures multiple simultaneous hardships that can impact households.
Children represent over half of the global population identified as multidimensionally poor, with approximately 617 million children living under these conditions, which is 51.5% of the total. Nearly one-third of children measured by the index experience multidimensional poverty. Rural communities are disproportionately affected, with about 83% of all multidimensionally poor individuals residing in rural areas. The data underscores ongoing disparities in access to basic services, education, and living standards across many nations.
Sub-Saharan Africa sees the highest share
In the region of Sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 616 million people live in multidimensional poverty, the highest number among all regions. This figure constitutes 51.4% of the population included in the index within the region. The 2026 report incorporates fresh survey data from 13 countries and provides subnational estimates for 1,360 regions across 100 countries. Population updates influenced the results in countries without recent household surveys, adding 15.8 million people to the overall poverty count in 95 such nations.
National trends display significant variation among countries with comparable historical data. While Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan have experienced reductions in both their multidimensional poverty rates and affected populations, Angola and Zambia have decreased their share of residents living in poverty. However, due to population growth, their total numbers have still risen. Conversely, Nigeria saw increases in both the poverty rate and the number of people affected after previous improvements. These examples illustrate the diverse national patterns that can exist within the global total.
Multiple nations continue to record notable declines in poverty levels
Historical data also shows meaningful long-term declines in multidimensional poverty across several regions. Out of 89 countries with trend data, 33 have managed to halve their MPI figures within a 15-year span. Six of these are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. For instance, Eswatini reduced its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0%. China experienced the fastest decrease among nations with available data, with its MPI dropping from 9.5% to 4.2% between 2010 and 2014. Viet Nam also achieved a halving of its MPI value within a seven-year period.
The figure of 1.2 billion individuals differs from estimates of extreme income poverty, as the multidimensional measure considers various hardships that can occur simultaneously. These include insufficient schooling, poor nutrition, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to electricity or clean water. Consequently, this broader measure offers a more comprehensive view of deprivation than income thresholds alone. The 2026 findings emphasize children, rural populations, and Sub-Saharan Africa as the primary groups experiencing the most recent increases in global poverty.