Key Takeaways:
- 1.2 billion people are living in acute poverty, according to the report
- The number rose by 51.5 million from the previous year
- More than half of those affected are children
- Both the poverty rate and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty have declined significantly
The number of people living in acute poverty worldwide has risen for the first time since 2010, reaching 1.2 billion, according to the 2026 global multidimensional poverty report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.
The report counted 51.5 million more people living in acute poverty than in the previous year. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo called the increase a "wake-up call for the world", saying billions of people face overlapping hardships, including hunger, missed schooling and a lack of clean water or electricity.
More than half of those living in acute poverty are children. However, UNDP said population growth was a major factor behind the recorded increase. The report also noted that new data were available for only 13 of the 108 developing countries covered, limiting the scope of year-on-year comparisons.
The findings present a mixed picture of global progress. Thirty-three countries have halved the proportion of their populations living in poverty, as measured by the index, over the past 15 years. Six of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, while China and Vietnam were among the Asian countries that made the fastest progress.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent, continue to account for the majority of the world's poorest people, the report found.
Nepal was among the countries where both the poverty rate and the number of people experiencing multidimensional poverty had declined significantly, alongside Egypt and Tajikistan, according to the UNDP statement.
In Angola and Zambia, poverty rates also fell, but population growth more than offset the reductions, increasing the total number of people living in poverty.
The index measures overlapping deprivations in areas such as housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, food and education. It assesses poverty beyond income alone, reflecting the multiple disadvantages people may face in their daily lives.
