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.
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said the increase should prompt renewed global action to address the interconnected hardships faced by poor households.
“Behind these figures are 1.2 billion people facing hardships that reinforce one another: hunger, missed schooling and a lack of clean water or electricity,” De Croo said.
He added that countries had demonstrated that sustained progress was possible when governments addressed multiple dimensions of poverty together rather than treating individual challenges in isolation.
The report cautions that the rise in the global poverty count does not reflect a single cause.
In 95 countries where no new survey data were available for the latest update, revised population estimates increased the number of people counted as poor by 15.8 million.
The remaining change reflects a combination of shifts in poverty incidence, demographic changes and differences in indicator coverage between survey rounds.
The global MPI assesses poverty beyond income, identifying people as multidimensionally poor when they experience deprivation in at least one-third of ten weighted indicators covering health, education and living standards.
These indicators capture conditions such as nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, access to clean cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and basic assets.
The 2026 update covers 108 countries in developing regions, representing 78 per cent of the global population, and measures the extent to which people experience several forms of deprivation simultaneously.
Despite the global increase, the report finds that several countries have continued to reduce multidimensional poverty.
Among the 13 countries with newly updated MPI estimates, five recorded significant reductions in the proportion of people living in multidimensional poverty.
Egypt, Nepal and Tajikistan recorded significant declines in both poverty rates and the number of people affected. Angola and Zambia reduced their poverty rates, but population growth outpaced the reductions, resulting in an increase in the total number of people living in poverty.
Nigeria illustrated how gains can be reversed. After making significant progress in reducing multidimensional poverty during the 2010s, the country experienced an increase in both its poverty rate and the number of people affected in the 2020s.
The findings highlight the distinction between reducing the proportion of people living in poverty and reducing the absolute number of people affected, particularly in countries experiencing rapid population growth.
The report also points to evidence that substantial progress is achievable within relatively short periods.
Among 89 countries with trend data, 33 halved their MPI value in fewer than 15 years, including six countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Eswatini recorded a marked improvement over 15 years, with the proportion of people living in multidimensional poverty falling from 38.7 per cent to 8 per cent.
China recorded the fastest reduction among countries with available data, halving its MPI value in four years. Its multidimensional poverty rate fell from 9.5 per cent in 2010 to 4.2 per cent in 2014.
Viet Nam also halved its MPI value within seven years.
These examples offer evidence that coordinated interventions addressing health, education and living standards can produce significant results, although progress varies across national contexts.
Sustainable Development Goal target 1.2 calls for countries to reduce by at least half the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty in all its forms by 2030.
The findings suggest that meeting the target will require renewed efforts to expand access to essential services, strengthen social protection and address the underlying causes of deprivation.
With children making up more than half of those living in multidimensional poverty, the report also highlights the importance of investments in nutrition, education, healthcare, clean water and electricity to prevent disadvantages from persisting across generations.