1.2 billion people suffer from extreme poverty

New York - Ofoq News - The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index recorded its first increase since its inception in 2010, bringing the number of people affected by it to 1.2 billion people, according to what the United Nations Development Program announced on Monday.

In the 2026 edition of their annual report, the UN agency and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) research center monitored an increase of 51.5 million people suffering from “extreme” poverty compared to the previous year.

According to the two organizations, this increase is the first of its kind to be recorded in 16 years.

“This rise in poverty rates should serve as a wake-up call for the entire world,” UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said in a statement.

He added, "Behind these numbers, there are 1.2 billion people facing difficulties that form a vicious cycle of hunger, school dropouts, and lack of access to drinking water or electricity."

According to the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Initiative, more than half of the people affected (51.5%) are minors.

However, the two organizations point out that population growth is a major factor in this rise, and that new data was only available for 13 of the 108 countries included in the report.

Despite the increase in the total number of people living in poverty, the report paints a mixed picture. Over the past 15 years, 33 countries have succeeded in reducing the proportion of their population suffering from poverty by half, according to the definition of the index.

Among these countries, 6 are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the United Nations Development Programme, the fastest rates of progress have been recorded in Asia, particularly in China and Vietnam.

Extreme poverty still affects rural areas more than urban areas, as approximately 83.3% of the world's poor live in rural areas.

As was the case the previous year, the majority of the poorest people live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the most densely populated region in the world.

Alexander De Croo said, "We know that progress is possible, as countries that have faced these challenges in a joint way rather than working individually have demonstrated what can be achieved with determined action."

“Multidimensional poverty” has many indicators, especially related to the lack of adequate housing, sanitation systems, electricity, cooking fuel, food, and access to education.