NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – For the first time since its inception in 2010, global multidimensional poverty has increased, impacting 1.2 billion individuals across 108 countries. The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index covers 6.3 billion people, revealing that 18.9% live in severe multidimensional poverty. This latest figure is 51.5 million higher than the previous update, on a comparable basis. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo described this rise as a “wake-up call for the world.” The index emphasizes overlapping deprivations in health, education, and living standards rather than focusing solely on income.
The latest statistics come from the United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. Their index assesses 10 indicators, including nutrition, schooling, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, and household assets. It also factors in child mortality, school attendance, and cooking fuel. An individual is considered multidimensionally poor if deprivations reach at least one-third of the weighted indicators. This approach provides policymakers with a broader understanding of hardship than income alone.
Children make up more than half of those living in multidimensional poverty. Approximately 617 million children are included, representing 51.5% of the global total. Nearly one in three children impacted by the index lives in multidimensional poverty. Rural areas face an even greater share of the burden. About 83% of all multidimensionally poor individuals reside in rural regions, where gaps in essential services persist across many countries in the dataset.
Sub-Saharan Africa bears the highest burden
Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest number of people living in multidimensional poverty, with 616 million individuals. This accounts for 51.4% of the region’s population covered by the index. The 2026 update also includes fresh survey data from 13 countries and subnational estimates for 1,360 regions across 100 nations. In 95 countries without new survey data, updated population estimates added 15.8 million people to the count of those in multidimensional poverty this year.
Country-specific results show both setbacks and progress. Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan experienced notable declines in both poverty rates and affected populations. Angola and Zambia reduced their poverty shares but saw the total number of poor people rise due to population growth. Nigeria’s situation worsened after earlier improvements in the 2010s, with both its poverty rate and the number of those in multidimensional poverty increasing in the recent data.
Thirty-three nations manage to halve multidimensional poverty
Long-term data indicates that significant reductions are achievable across various regions and income groups. Among 89 countries with trend data, 33 countries cut their MPI value by half in fewer than 15 years. Six of these are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eswatini reduced its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0%. China achieved the fastest halving among countries with available data. Viet Nam also halved its MPI value within seven years.
The 2026 findings highlight the difference between multidimensional poverty and income-based extreme poverty. The MPI measures simultaneous shortages in essential aspects of daily life, while income poverty relies on a monetary threshold. The report does not imply that 1.2 billion people live below the income-based extreme poverty line. Instead, it reveals that more than one billion people face multiple overlapping disadvantages in basic needs. Children and rural populations make up the largest shares of these vulnerable groups.