823. Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2023

On July 11, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford, UK, released the  2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report. The report provides a concise update on the state of multidimensional poverty from 110 developing countries, covering 6.1 billion people or 92% of the developing world’s population. 

The MPI is an index introduced by UNDP and OPHI in the 2010 Human Development Report to provide a multidimensional view of poverty. While poverty is usually defined solely in monetary terms, the MPI defines poverty as a score above a cutoff point calculated by weighting specific indicator items included in the three dimensions of education, health and living standards. The MPI is also comparable across countries.

According to the report, 1.1 billion of the 6.1 billion people live in extreme poverty. Half of these people live in sub-Saharan Africa and a third in South Asia, hence five out of six poor people are living in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia. Half of the poor are children under the age of 18, with child poverty rate at 27.7%, adult poverty rate at 13.4%, and 84% of the poor live in rural areas.

An analysis of trends from 2000 to 2022, focusing on 81 countries with comparable long-term data, shows that rapid progress is possible, with 25 countries, including India, China and Indonesia, halving their MPIs in just 15 years. However, the lack of comprehensive data from after the COVID-19 pandemic poses a challenge in assessing the immediate outlook. In some countries, the momentum of poverty reduction appears to have continued during the pandemic, but the full extent of the global impact remains to be measured. The report noted that data collection was not an extreme challenge and emphasized its importance.

References
UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 2023. 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Unstacking global poverty: Data for high impact action. New York.　 https://hdr.undp.org/content/2023-global-multidimensional-poverty-index…　

UNDP, “25 Countries Halved Multidimensional Poverty Within 15 Years, but 1.1 Billion Remain Poor.” Press release, July 11, 2023. https://www.undp.org/press-releases/25-countries-halved-multidimensiona….  Accessed on July 18, 2023.

Contributor: SHIRATORI Sakiko (Information and Public Relations Office)