Nigeria and Four Other Nations Drive Global Multidimensional Poverty Upward—2026 UNDP Report
For the first time since its launch in 2010, the number of people living in multidimensional poverty globally has risen to 1.2 billion, marking a sobering milestone that includes a stark reversal of economic progress in Nigeria.
According to the 2026 update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), the global pool of individuals experiencing acute deprivation grew by 51.5 million people compared to the previous update.
While part of the global surge is attributed to population growth—which added 15.8 million people to the tally across 95 countries without new survey data—the report highlights a troubling trend for Africa’s most populous nation.
After securing significant reductions in multidimensional poverty during the 2010s, Nigeria’s progress reversed in the 2020s, with both its poverty rate and the absolute number of people living in poverty expanding.
The index defines multidimensional poverty by looking beyond income alone, measuring overlapping daily deprivations across ten indicators in health, education, and standard of living. An individual is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least one-third of these weighted indicators.
Globally, the crisis disproportionately impacts the vulnerable: 617 million children make up more than half of the poor population, and 83 percent of all multidimensionally poor individuals live in rural communities.
“The rise in poverty should be a wake-up call for the world,” said UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo. “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. But it does not have to be this way.”
Despite Nigeria’s downturn and mixed results in fellow African nations like Angola and Zambia—where population growth outpaced poverty reduction efforts—the report stresses that hitting Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 1.2 remains achievable.
Out of 89 countries evaluated for long-term trends, 33 countries successfully halved their MPI value in fewer than 15 years, including six nations in Sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, Eswatini slashed its multidimensional poverty rate from 38.7% to 8.0% over a 15-year window.
Globally, China recorded the fastest turnaround, halving its MPI value in just four years (falling from 9.5% to 4.2% between 2010 and 2014), followed by rapid scaling in Viet Nam over seven years.
Download the report here: https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/mpistatisticalupdate2026en.pdf
