UNDP index records first rise in acute multidimensional poverty since 2010, with 1.2 billion people affected and children making up more than half

The number of people living in acute multidimensional poverty has reached 1.2 billion, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said on Monday, marking the first increase since the index began in 2010. TRT World reported the findings from the 2026 index, jointly produced by UNDP and the University of Oxford’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. The total is 51.5 million higher than in the previous update on a like-for-like basis; more than half of those affected are children.

UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo called the increase “a wake-up call for the world,” saying the figures represent people facing overlapping hardships including hunger, missed schooling and a lack of clean water or electricity. The index covers 108 developing countries, and more than 8 in 10 people counted as poor live in rural areas.

The report says the increase reflects population growth and changes in available data, not only changes in poverty rates. New survey data were added for 13 countries; updated population estimates for 95 countries without new surveys added 15.8 million to the count. Among the 13 countries with new estimates, Egypt, Nepal and Tajikistan recorded significant declines in both poverty rates and the number of people in poverty.

The index measures overlapping deprivation in health, education and living standards through 10 indicators, including nutrition, schooling, housing, sanitation, electricity and access to drinking water. Despite the overall rise, 33 of the 89 countries with trend data have halved their index value in fewer than 15 years; the report highlights rapid progress in China and Viet Nam, as well as in countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest regional total, with 616 million people in multidimensional poverty.