Global multidimensional poverty hits 1.2 billion as child hardship deepens
Originally published by News – Capital FM — Read the original article →
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 12– The number of people living in acute multidimensional poverty worldwide has risen for the first time since a global index was launched in 2010, reaching 1.2 billion, with children accounting for more than half of those affected, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford.
The 2026 update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) estimates that 51.5 million more people are living in multidimensional poverty than in the previous update on a like-for-like basis, highlighting the challenge of addressing overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards.
Of the 1.2 billion people affected, 617 million are children, while 83 per cent live in rural areas, where access to essential services and infrastructure remains a critical factor in living conditions.
