The number of people experiencing acute poverty worldwide has climbed to 1.2 billion, marking the first increase in the global poverty index since it was introduced in 2010, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The 2026 report, produced by the UNDP in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, estimates that 51.5 million more people were living in acute poverty than in the previous year.
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo described the increase as a warning that the international community must take seriously.
“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,” De Croo said.
Children account for more than half of the people living in acute poverty, highlighting the impact of deprivation on younger generations.
Population Growth Contributes to Rising Poverty Figures
The UNDP cautioned that the increase in the total number of people living in poverty does not necessarily mean poverty rates have worsened everywhere.
According to the organisation, population growth was a major factor behind the rise in the global figure. It also noted that fresh data was available for only 13 of the 108 developing countries covered by the report, limiting the extent to which the latest findings reflect changes across all the countries assessed.
Despite the overall increase, the report identified significant progress in several countries. Thirty-three nations have cut the proportion of their populations living in poverty by half over the past 15 years, based on the index’s measurements.
Six of those countries are in sub-Saharan Africa, while China and Vietnam were among the Asian countries recognised for making particularly rapid progress.
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia Remain Most Affected
The report found that, as in the previous year, most people experiencing acute poverty live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, one of the world’s most densely populated regions.
Some countries have recorded improvements in both poverty rates and the number of people affected.
The UNDP specifically highlighted Egypt, Nepal and Tajikistan, where both the proportion of people experiencing multidimensional poverty and the total number affected have fallen significantly.
Angola and Zambia have also reduced their poverty rates. However, population growth in both countries has outweighed those gains, resulting in an increase in the number of people living in poverty.
How the UN Measures Acute Poverty
The global poverty index assesses deprivation across several aspects of daily life rather than relying solely on income.
Its indicators include inadequate housing, poor sanitation, limited access to electricity and cooking fuel, insufficient food and barriers to education.
These measures are used to identify people facing multiple disadvantages at the same time, providing a broader picture of poverty and living conditions in developing countries.
The latest findings therefore present a mixed outlook: while the global number of people experiencing acute poverty has increased, progress in dozens of countries shows that substantial reductions remain possible.
Source: AFP
