Global poverty index rises for first time since 2010, UNDP says
The UN's global poverty index rose for the first time since 2010, with 1.2 billion people now in acute poverty, an increase of 51.5 million from last year. The UNDP attributed the rise partly to population growth and noted mixed progress, with some nations halving poverty rates.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported on Monday that its global poverty index has risen for the first time since its creation in 2010, bringing the number of people affected to 1.2 billion. In the 2026 edition of their annual report, the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative counted 51.5 million more people living in “acute” poverty compared to the previous year.
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo called the increase a “wake-up call for the world.” He said in a press release: “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. This is unacceptable.” More than half of those in acute poverty are children.
The UNDP noted that a major factor in the recorded increase was population growth, and new data was only available for 13 of the 108 developing countries covered by the report. Despite the overall rise, the report presents a mixed picture. Thirty-three nations have halved the percentage of their people living in poverty as defined by the index over the past 15 years, including six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The countries that made the most rapid progress were in Asia, with China and Vietnam highlighted by the UNDP.
As in previous years, the report found that the majority of the poorest people live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, specifically the Indian subcontinent, the most densely populated region on Earth. In Egypt, Nepal and Tajikistan, both the poverty rate and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty decreased significantly, the press release said. In Angola and Zambia, the poverty rate declined, but population growth more than offset this decrease, leading to an increase in the number of people living in poverty.
The poverty index used in the report includes indicators such as lack of adequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, food and education.
