NEW YORK / RankWire.AI / – The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index shows that global poverty has risen for the first time since the measure’s inception in 2010. According to the index, 1.2 billion individuals are experiencing severe deprivation across 108 nations. This figure accounts for 18.9% of the 6.3 billion people included in the study. Compared to the previous update, this total has grown by 51.5 million people. The index evaluates hardships across health, education, and living standards, rather than relying solely on income.
The United Nations Development Programme collaborated with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative to produce this latest report. They analyze 10 indicators covering nutrition, child mortality, school attendance, schooling, and cooking fuel use. Additionally, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing quality, and household assets are assessed. The index classifies individuals as multidimensionally poor when their combined deprivations reach at least one-third of the total. This approach captures multiple simultaneous hardships that can affect a household at once.
Children constitute over half of the people identified as multidimensionally poor worldwide. Approximately 617 million children are affected, representing 51.5% of the global total. Nearly one-third of children surveyed fall into this category. Rural communities bear a much larger burden than urban areas, with about 83% of all multidimensionally poor individuals living in rural regions. These figures underscore ongoing gaps in essential services, education, and living conditions across many nations.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for the largest share
In Sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 616 million people live in multidimensional poverty, the highest number of any region. This accounts for 51.4% of the population included in the index. The 2026 report incorporates new survey data from 13 countries and offers subnational estimates for 1,360 regions in 100 nations. Population updates have influenced the results, especially in countries lacking recent household surveys. In 95 such countries, demographic revisions added 15.8 million people to the total count of those in poverty.
National trends differ widely among nations with comparable historical data. Egypt, Nepal, and Tajikistan have reported declines in both their multidimensional poverty rates and the total number of affected individuals. Angola and Zambia also reduced their share of multidimensionally poor residents. However, population growth caused their overall numbers to increase. Nigeria, conversely, saw rises in both its poverty rate and the number of people affected after previous improvements. These variations highlight how global totals can mask distinct national patterns.
Multiple nations demonstrate ongoing reductions in poverty levels
Long-term data also reveal significant progress in reducing multidimensional poverty in several regions. Of 89 countries with trend information, 33 managed to halve their MPI value within 15 years. Six of these are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Eswatini reduced its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0%. China experienced the fastest decrease among countries with available data, dropping from 9.5% to 4.2% between 2010 and 2014. Viet Nam also achieved a 50% reduction within just seven years.
The figure of 1.2 billion differs from global estimates based solely on income-based extreme poverty. The multidimensional approach considers several disadvantages that individuals can face simultaneously, such as inadequate schooling, poor nutrition, unsafe sanitation, and limited access to electricity or clean water. This broader measurement provides a more comprehensive picture of deprivation than income thresholds alone. The 2026 findings emphasize that children, rural communities, and Sub-Saharan Africa remain at the core of the recent global poverty increase.