Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)

The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures multidimensional poverty in over 100 developing countries, using internationally comparable datasets and is updated annually. The measure captures the severe deprivations that each person faces at the same time using information from 10 indicators, which are grouped into three equally weighted dimensions: health, education, and living standards. It identifies individuals as poor if they are deprived in one-third or more of these indicators and measures the intensity of their poverty based on the percentage of the indicators in which they are deprived. The MPI provides insights into who is poor and how they experience poverty, offering a comprehensive understanding of poverty dynamics. It allows for comparisons across various administrative levels and reveals how different groups and countries experience poverty through the range of indicators.

Dimensions, indicators, deprivation cutoffs, and weights

Dimensions of Poverty
Indicator
Deprived if living in the household where…
Weight
Health
Nutrition
Any adult under 70 years of age or any child for whom there is nutritional information is undernourished.
1/6
Child mortality
Any child under the age of 18 years has died in the family in the five-year period preceding the survey.
1/6
Education
Years of schooling
No household member aged ‘school entrance age + six years or older has completed at least six years of schooling.
1/6
School attendance
Any school-aged child is not attending school up to the age at which he/she would complete class eight.
1/6
Standard of living
Cooking Fuel
The household cooks with dung, wood, charcoal or coal.
1/18
Sanitation
The household’s sanitation facility is not improved (according to SDG guidelines) or it is improved but shared with other households.
1/18
Drinking Water
The household does not have access to improved drinking water (according to SDG guidelines) or improved drinking water is at least a 30-minute walk from home, round trip.
1/18
Electricity
The household has no electricity.
1/18
Housing
At least one of the three housing materials for roof, walls and floor are inadequate: the floor is of natural materials roof and/or walls are of natural or rudimentary materials.
1/18
Assets
The household does not own more than one of these assets: radio, television, telephone, computer, animal cart, bicycle, or refrigerator, and does not own a car or truck.
1/18

Source: 2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Annex: The dimensions, indicators, deprivation cutoffs, and weights of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index,

Global MPI around the world

According to the latest global MPI data, 1.1 billion people (out of 6.1 billion across 110 countries) are still living in acute multidimensional poverty. Almost two-thirds of the multidimensionally poor (730 million) people live in middle-income countries (MICs). However, poverty disproportionately affects people in low-income countries (LICs), which make up only 10 percent of the population covered by the global MPI, but are home to 34.7 percent (387 million) of the multidimensionally poor. Moreover, five out of six poor people live in Sub-Saharan Africa (47.8 percent) or South Asia (34.9 percent).

However, the latest MPI data shows that poverty reduction is possible, as 25 countries successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years. In 79 of the 81 countries with trend data, MPI had decreased between countries’ first and last measurements.

LEGEND

Multidimensional poverty index (latest value)

Higher poverty0.10.20.30.40.50.60.70

Annualized Change Incidence

Increase0.70Decrease-3.78

Source: UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 2023.
2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Unstacking global poverty: Data for high impact action. New York.

2023 MPI Tables 1 and 2 (XLS)
Note: The absolute annualized change is the difference in a poverty measure between two years, divided by the number of years between surveys. The values presented in the map have been calculated using measurements of the first and last year.


Multidimensional Poverty vs Income Poverty

Poverty measures that only consider income can underestimate poverty. In many countries (more than 40 out of the 61 analyzed in the Global MPI report 2023), the incidence of multidimensional poverty is higher than the incidence of monetary policy (according to the World Bank measure at $2.15 per day). In Chad, Guinea and Mali, it is 50 percentage points higher.

Multidimensional poverty vs extreme monetary poverty incidence
Multidimensional poverty incidence
Extreme monetary poverty incidence
100%90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%10%0%Mali (difference: 53.54pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 68.33%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 14.79%Chad (difference: 53.29pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 84.17%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 30.88%Guinea (difference: 52.39pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 66.21%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 13.82%Benin (difference: 46.90pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 66.8%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 19.9%Guinea-Bissau (difference: 42.74pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 64.4%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 21.66%Senegal (difference: 41.49pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 50.83%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 9.34%Sudan (difference: 37.07pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 52.33%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 15.26%Myanmar (difference: 36.33pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 38.32%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.99%Côte d'Ivoire (difference: 34.62pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 46.07%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 11.45%Pakistan (difference: 33.40pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 38.33%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 4.93%Sierra Leone (difference: 33.16pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 59.22%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 26.06%Yemen (difference: 28.67pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 48.47%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 19.8%Namibia (difference: 25.26pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 40.88%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 15.62%Gambia (difference: 24.47pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 41.71%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 17.24%Timor-Leste (difference: 23.81pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 48.25%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 24.44%Angola (difference: 19.98pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 51.1%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 31.12%Guatemala (difference: 19.36pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 28.88%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 9.52%Comoros (difference: 18.62pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 37.26%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 18.64%Kiribati (difference: 18.12pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 19.8%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.68%Lao PDR (difference: 15.93pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 23.07%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 7.14%Uganda (difference: 14.96pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 57.17%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 42.21%Nicaragua (difference: 12.52pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 16.46%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 3.94%Tanzania (difference: 12.12pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 57.07%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 44.95%Bangladesh (difference: 11.17pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 24.64%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 13.47%Burundi (difference: 9.97pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 75.1%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 65.13%Togo (difference: 9.54pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 37.61%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 28.07%Kenya (difference: 8.11pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 37.48%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 29.37%Mongolia (difference: 6.55pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 7.26%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.71%India (difference: 6.39pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 16.39%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 10%Peru (difference: 3.76pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 6.63%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 2.87%Nigeria (difference: 2.18pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 33.04%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 30.86%Sri Lanka (difference: 1.96pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 2.92%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.96%Botswana (difference: 1.79pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 17.22%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 15.43%Dominican Republic (difference: 1.42pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 2.27%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.85%Tajikistan (difference: 1.33pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 7.44%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 6.11%Viet Nam (difference: 1.27pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 1.92%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.65%Mexico (difference: 0.97pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 4.07%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 3.1%Maldives (difference: 0.77pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.77%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0%Albania (difference: 0.68pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.7%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.02%Tunisia (difference: 0.65pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.79%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.14%Thailand (difference: 0.57pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.58%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.01%Kazakhstan (difference: 0.43pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.45%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.02%Seychelles (difference: 0.36pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.87%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.51%Fiji (difference: 0.19pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 1.51%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.32%Argentina (difference: -0.53pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.43%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 0.96%Ghana (difference: -0.57pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 24.64%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 25.21%Costa Rica (difference: -0.69pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.54%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.23%Honduras (difference: -0.77pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 11.97%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 12.74%Kyrgyzstan (difference: -0.94pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.39%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.33%Serbia (difference: -1.45pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.11%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 1.56%Ecuador (difference: -1.49pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 2.09%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 3.58%Montenegro (difference: -1.60pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 1.24%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 2.84%North Macedonia (difference: -2.29pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.37%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 2.66%Sao Tome and Principe (difference: -3.84pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 11.71%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 15.55%Georgia (difference: -5.15pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 0.34%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 5.49%Lesotho (difference: -12.80pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 19.6%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 32.4%Zambia (difference: -13.44pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 47.91%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 61.35%Zimbabwe (difference: -13.95pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 25.8%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 39.75%South Africa (difference: -14.23pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 6.26%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 20.49%eSwatini (difference: -16.87pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 19.21%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 36.08%Malawi (difference: -20.18pp)Multidimensional poverty incidence: 49.88%Extreme monetary poverty incidence: 70.06%Countries with Multidimensional poverty incidence greater than Extreme poverty Incidence

Source: UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). 2023.
2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Unstacking global poverty: Data for high impact action. New York.

2023 MPI Tables 1 and 2 (XLS)
Notes: Extreme monetary poverty refers to the World Bank indicator monetary poverty headcount ratio at PPP $2.15 a day.
For countries displayed in this chart, the difference between the MPI survey year(s) and monetary poverty survey year does not exceed 3 years.

Comparing Urban vs Rural and Female vs Male headed households

Globally 84% of all MPI poor people living in rural areas. Overall, multidimensional poverty tend to be both more prevalent and more intense in rural areas compared to urban areas.

The experience of multidimensional poverty varies significantly across countries. For instance, in Malawi, Liberia, Namibia, female-headed households are significantly poorer than those living male-headed households with the gender gap in the incidence of poverty exceeding 8 percentage points. But the opposite is also true for other countries such as the Gambia, Senegal, Nigeria, where male-headed households are poorer. However, measuring poverty at household level alone does not allow to capture the extent to which women, men, boys and girls experience poverty differently within the same household. As a way forward, one can index eligible persons within each household to analyze ‘individual indicators’ (e.g. years of schooling, nutrition, school attendance) by gender, as was done in the Global MPI report 2021 (2021 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI): Unmasking disparities by ethnicity, caste and gender.)

Select an indicator:    

Display differences between

Rural - Urban

sorted by

Difference

filtered by region

All
Countries
Urban
Rural
Year survey
Guinea0.5030.1242018Angola0.5230.1452015-2016Mauritania0.5000.1282019-2021Niger0.6580.3002012Cameroon0.3890.0752018Mali0.4470.1402018Burundi0.4420.1412016-2017Guinea-Bissau0.4460.1512018-2019Congo, Democratic Republic of the0.4600.1662017-2018Mozambique0.4720.1842019-2020Senegal0.3890.1012019Central African Republic0.5620.2752018-2019Côte d'Ivoire0.3700.0852016Chad0.5670.3022019Madagascar0.4350.1702021Sierra Leone0.4030.1372019Ethiopia0.4330.1872019Yemen0.3190.0762013Afghanistan0.3280.0942015-2016Tanzania0.3520.1182015-2016Zambia0.3240.0922018Congo0.2670.0362014-2015Sudan0.3510.1222014Liberia0.3890.1642019-2020Haiti0.2850.0662016-2017Nigeria0.2680.0492021Togo0.2660.0522017Gambia0.3440.1322019-2020Namibia0.2810.0742013Gabon0.2420.0372012Papua New Guinea0.2870.0832016-2018Timor-Leste0.2740.0802016Uganda0.3220.1292016Benin0.4430.2542017-2018Pakistan0.2660.0792017-2018Myanmar0.2210.0502015-2016Rwanda0.2600.0902019-2020Malawi0.2570.0892019-2020Nicaragua0.1590.0102011-2012Guatemala0.1930.0532014-2015Kenya0.2180.0792014Comoros0.2240.0862012Zimbabwe0.1510.0182019Lao PDR0.1460.0232017Ghana0.1610.0532017-2018Botswana0.1420.0342015-2016Bolivia0.1100.0052016Lesotho0.1200.0222018Peru0.0890.0082021eSwatini0.1020.0232014Kiribati0.1180.0482018-2019Honduras0.0820.0122019Colombia0.0720.0032015-2016India0.0890.0232019-2021Nepal0.1190.0532019Morocco0.0620.0052017-2018Bangladesh0.1160.0602019Cambodia0.0920.0372021-2022El Salvador0.0650.0122014Mongolia0.0630.0112018Brazil0.0600.0092015Paraguay0.0440.0042016South Africa0.0450.0102016Mexico0.0400.0102021Suriname0.0320.0042018Iraq0.0500.0252018Belize0.0270.0032015-2016Tajikistan0.0340.0132017Ecuador0.0200.0032018Philippines0.0310.0152017Dominican Republic0.0200.0052019Indonesia0.0210.0072017Samoa0.0270.0152019-2020Egypt0.0240.0122014Sri Lanka0.0130.0042016Algeria0.0110.0022018-2019Jamaica0.0150.0082018Viet Nam0.0100.0032020-2021Tunisia0.0070.0012018Cuba0.0060.0002019Fiji0.0090.0042021Tonga0.0040.0002019Uzbekistan0.0080.0042021-2022Trinidad and Tobago0.0040.0012011Jordan0.0040.0012017-2018Palestine, State of0.0040.0022019-2020Sao Tome and Principe0.0500.0472019Georgia0.0020.0002018Kazakhstan0.0030.0012015Moldova0.0040.0022012Thailand0.0030.0012019Kyrgyzstan0.0020.0002018Armenia0.0020.0002015-2016Tuvalu0.0090.0082019-2020Costa Rica0.0030.0022018Maldives0.0030.0022016-2017Saint Lucia0.0070.0062012Ukraine0.0020.0012012Serbia0.0010.0002019Montenegro0.0050.0052018Guyana0.0070.0072019-2020Turkmenistan0.0010.0012019Albania0.0030.0032017-2018North Macedonia0.0010.0012018-2019Libya0.0070.0072014Bosnia and Herzegovina0.0080.0092011-2012Barbados0.0080.0092012