NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index indicates that for the first time since its inception in 2010, global multidimensional poverty has risen. The index identifies 1.2 billion individuals living in severe deprivation across 108 countries, accounting for 18.9% of the 6.3 billion people included in the study. This total has grown by 51.5 million compared to the previous update. The index evaluates hardships in health, education, and living standards, rather than focusing solely on income levels.
The latest report was produced by the United Nations Development Programme in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. It analyzes 10 indicators that encompass nutrition, child mortality, schooling, school attendance, and cooking fuel. Additionally, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing quality, and household assets are assessed. A household is categorized as multidimensionally poor when its deprivations, weighted collectively, reach at least one-third of the total. This approach captures multiple overlapping hardships that may affect the same household simultaneously.
Children make up more than half of the global population identified as multidimensionally poor, with approximately 617 million children living under these conditions, representing 51.5% of all children included in the index. Nearly one-third of children affected by the index experience multidimensional poverty. Rural communities face a significantly higher burden, with about 83% of all multidimensionally poor individuals residing in rural areas. These figures underscore ongoing disparities in access to basic services, education, and living conditions across numerous nations.
Sub-Saharan Africa Holds the Largest Share
In the 2026 report, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of people living in multidimensional poverty, with roughly 616 million individuals. This constitutes 51.4% of the region’s population included in the index. The update incorporates new survey data from 13 countries and offers subnational estimates for 1,360 regions across 100 countries. Population data revisions, which affected some countries lacking recent household surveys, resulted in an addition of 15.8 million people to the total poverty count in 95 nations.
National trends differ significantly among countries with comparable historical data. While Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan saw declines in both their multidimensional poverty rates and affected populations, Angola and Zambia reduced their share of residents living in poverty. Nonetheless, due to population growth, their total numbers increased. Nigeria experienced rises in both its poverty rate and total affected population after earlier improvements, illustrating how global figures can mask distinct national patterns.
Persistent Progress in Several Countries
Long-term data also reveal notable reductions in multidimensional poverty across various regions. Among 89 countries with trend information, 33 managed to halve their MPI values within 15 years. Six of these nations are situated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eswatini reduced its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0%. China demonstrated the fastest reduction among countries with available data, dropping from 9.5% to 4.2% between 2010 and 2014. Viet Nam also achieved a halving of its MPI value within seven years.
The figure of 1.2 billion contrasts with estimates of extreme income-based poverty. Multidimensional poverty accounts for multiple disadvantages that individuals may face concurrently, such as inadequate education, poor nutrition, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to electricity or clean water. As such, this measurement offers a more comprehensive view of deprivation than income thresholds alone. The 2026 findings place children, rural populations, and Sub-Saharan Africa at the forefront of the recent global increase in poverty.