The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) says Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty rate increased to 38.7 percent in 2024 from 33 percent in 2021.

 

In its 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) report released on Monday, the UN body said an additional 17.9 million Nigerians slipped into poverty during the period.

 

The report co-produced by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), estimates that 90.1 million Nigerians were living in multidimensional poverty in 2024, compared with 72.2 million in 2021.

 

The report said Nigeria recorded the largest increase in the number of people living in multidimensional poverty among the five countries that experienced a rise over their latest measurement periods.

 

 

Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Guinea and Kyrgyzstan were the other countries.

 

It said the increase reversed the progress Nigeria recorded between 2018 and 2021, when the proportion of people living in multidimensional poverty declined.

 

The report noted that Nigeria’s MPI value rose from 0.175 in 2021 to 0.208 in 2024, indicating an increase in the combined incidence and intensity of deprivation.

 

 

The intensity of deprivation among multidimensionally poor Nigerians also increased from 52.9 percent to 53.6 percent during the period.

 

WHAT IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY?

 

Unlike income-based measures, which assess poverty based on how much people earn or spend, the MPI examines overlapping disadvantages experienced by people in their daily lives.

 

The global MPI measures deprivation across three dimensions: health, education and standard of living.

 

 

Its 10 indicators include nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and household assets.

 

A person is classified as multidimensionally poor if their household experiences deprivation in at least one-third of the weighted indicators.

 

The measure captures circumstances in which people may experience several disadvantages simultaneously, such as inadequate access to education, electricity, clean water and sanitation.

 

The report said its estimates are based on household survey data collected in different years. Nigeria’s latest estimate is based on 2024 data and does not represent a direct measurement of poverty in 2026

 

NIGERIA’S POVERTY PROGRESS REVERSED

 

The report said Nigeria had recorded reductions in multidimensional poverty in the preceding years before the latest increase.

 

 

The country’s MPI value declined from 0.230 in 2013 to 0.202 in 2018 and 0.175 in 2021, before rising to 0.208 in 2024.

 

The proportion of people living in multidimensional poverty followed a similar pattern, falling from 42.3 percent in 2013 to 37.2 percent in 2018 and 33 percent in 2021 before increasing to 38.7 percent in 2024.

 

 

The number of people affected declined from 76.3 million in 2018 to 72.2 million in 2021 before rising to 90.1 million in 2024.

 

The latest figures suggest that the country’s earlier progress was not sustained.

 

 

The report also highlights significant differences in deprivation across Nigeria’s subnational regions.

 

Multidimensional poverty incidence ranges from 3.7 percent to 88.3 percent across the regions covered by the analysis.

 

It compares Yobe and Sokoto, two of Nigeria’s poorest subnational regions with similar MPI values, to demonstrate how the types of deprivation experienced by communities can differ even when their overall poverty levels are comparable.

 

The report says such differences underline the importance of examining individual deprivation indicators rather than relying solely on aggregate poverty figures.

 

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA HAS THE HIGHEST MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY BURDEN

 

Beyond Nigeria, the report estimates that 1.2 billion people across 108 countries live in acute multidimensional poverty.

 

The figure represents 18.9 percent of the 6.3 billion people covered by the index.

 

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest multidimensional poverty rate of all the world’s regions, with 616 million people, or 51.4 percent of its population, living in poverty.

 

The region accounts for more than half of the world’s multidimensionally poor population.

 

South Asia follows, with 393 million people living in multidimensional poverty.

 

The report found that 83.3 percent of the world’s multidimensionally poor people, or about 998 million, live in rural areas, compared with 200 million in urban areas.

 

The incidence of poverty in rural areas stands at 28.7 percent, against seven percent in urban areas.

 

It also found that children bear a disproportionate share of the burden.

 

Children below the age of 18 account for 617 million, or 51.5 percent, of the world’s multidimensionally poor population.

 

Globally, approximately one in every three children lives in multidimensional poverty, compared with one in seven adults.

 

In sub-Saharan Africa, 355 million children live in multidimensional poverty, accounting for 57.7 percent of the region’s poor population.

 

GLOBAL MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INCREASES

 

The report said the number of people living in multidimensional poverty worldwide increased for the first time since the index was launched in 2010.

 

The latest estimate of 1.2 billion represents an increase of 51.5 million people compared with the previous update.

 

Of the 1.2 billion people living in multidimensional poverty, 534 million, or 44.6 percent, experience severe poverty, meaning they are deprived in at least half of the weighted indicators.

 

An additional 952 million people are considered vulnerable to multidimensional poverty because they experience significant deprivation across multiple indicators but do not meet the threshold for classification as poor.

 

The report covers 108 countries and represents approximately 78 percent of the world’s population.

 

Despite the overall increase, the report found that progress remains possible.

 

Of the 89 countries with data that allow comparisons over time, 33 have reduced their MPI values by at least half in fewer than 15 years, including six countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

The findings are relevant to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing by at least half, by 2030, the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty in all its dimensions.

 

The report said the global figures point to the need for renewed efforts to address overlapping deprivations while demonstrating that substantial reductions in multidimensional poverty are achievable.