According to estimates from a global index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, a research center at Oxford University in the UK, half of all people living in poverty are under the age of 18. The new figures show that in 104 countries, mainly low- and middle-income countries, 662 million children are affected by multidimensional poverty.
Nearly 1.3 billion people live in multidimensional poverty, almost a quarter of the population of the 104 countries for which the 2018 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has been calculated. Almost half of this group of people, or 46%, are considered to be in extreme poverty and suffer deprivation in at least half of the dimensions taken into account by the MPI.
However, there are signs of optimism about poverty reduction. In India, the first country for which progress over time has been assessed, 271 million people were lifted out of poverty between 2005/2006 and 2015/2016. The country's poverty rate has almost halved, from 55% to 28% in ten years.
"Although the poverty rate, particularly among children, is considerable, there is still plenty of room for progress. In India alone, 271 million people have been lifted out of poverty in ten years." Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator.
While such comparisons over long periods of time have not yet been made in other countries, the latest data from the UNDP's Human Development Index, published recently, indicate that significant progress in development levels is being made in all regions.
Between 2006 and 2017, life expectancy rose by 7 years in sub-Saharan Africa and by almost 4 years in South Asia, and the primary school enrolment rate is close to 100%.
Multidimensional poverty exists in every developing region of the world, but it is particularly pronounced and widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, almost 560 million people (58% of the region's population) live in multidimensional poverty, of whom 342 million (61% of those in multidimensional poverty) are in extreme poverty.
In South Asia, 546 million people (31% of the population) live in multidimensional poverty, of which 200 million (37%) are in extreme poverty.
The vast majority, 1.1 billion people, live in rural areas. The rate of multidimensional poverty in rural areas (36%) is almost four times higher than that of people living in cities.