Multidimensional poverty has risen for the first time in 15 years, to 1.2 billion people, according to the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) update from UNDP and Oxford University, UN News reports.
The figure is 51.5 million higher than in the 2025 update. More than half, 617 million, are children, and 83 per cent live in rural areas. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo called the rise “a wake-up call for the world”.
What the Index Measures
The index, developed in 2010, measures poverty beyond income across 10 indicators of health, education and standard of living, from nutrition and child mortality to schooling and access to electricity, water and sanitation. A person counts as poor if deprived in one third or more of them. Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia account for the overwhelming majority of deprivations across every indicator.
Why the Number Rose
The 2026 update covers 108 countries, about 78 per cent of the global population. UNDP says the increase is partly due to population growth outpacing efforts to improve living standards. In 95 countries with no new survey data, updated population estimates raised the number of people counted as poor by nearly 16 million. The remainder of the increase comes from 13 countries where new data were gathered, reflecting real change in poverty and demographics as well as differences in indicator coverage.
The picture on the ground was mixed. Egypt, Nepal, Tajikistan, Angola and Zambia reduced the share of their people in multidimensional poverty, though population growth outpaced the reduction in Angola and Zambia, so the number of poor people there still increased. Nigeria illustrates how fragile progress can be: it made significant reductions in the 2010s, but both its poverty rate and its number of poor people have since increased, according to the update.
Where Progress Is Visible
UNDP also reports that 33 countries have halved their MPI value in fewer than 15 years, six of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In Eswatini, the share of people in multidimensional poverty fell from nearly 39 per cent to eight per cent. China recorded the fastest reduction among countries with available data, halving its MPI value from 9.5 per cent to 4.2 per cent in four years, between 2010 and 2014.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals, the international community has pledged to halve the proportion of people in poverty before the end of this decade. The authors believe the target is achievable.
Why It Matters
The rise is the first in 15 years, but the report’s own breakdown shows that part of it comes from updated population estimates in countries without new surveys. The examples of Eswatini and China show that rapid reductions are possible. What to watch next is how the picture changes as new survey data arrive from the 95 countries that lacked it, and whether countries where population growth is outpacing gains change course.
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