Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty rate climbed to 38.7 per cent in 2024 from 33 per cent in 2021, reversing years of progress, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report, released on Monday by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, estimated that 90.1 million Nigerians were affected in 2024, up from 72.2 million in 2021.
The increase of 17.9 million was the largest among five countries that recorded rising numbers of people living in multidimensional poverty. The others were Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Guinea and Kyrgyzstan.
Nigeria’s MPI value rose from 0.175 in 2021 to 0.208 in 2024, while the intensity of deprivation among poor people increased from 52.9 per cent to 53.6 per cent.
The report stressed that the figures came from household surveys conducted in 2024, not a direct measurement of poverty in 2026.
The index measures overlapping disadvantages in health, education and living standards through 10 indicators, including nutrition, schooling, sanitation, electricity, housing and access to clean water.
Nigeria’s poverty rate had fallen from 42.3 per cent in 2013 to 37.2 per cent in 2018 and 33 per cent in 2021 before rising again. Its MPI value also dropped from 0.230 in 2013 to 0.202 in 2018 and 0.175 in 2021.
Across Nigeria’s subnational regions, poverty rates ranged from 3.7 per cent to 88.3 per cent. The report compared Yobe and Sokoto to show how areas with similar MPI values could face different forms of deprivation.
Globally, 1.2 billion people across 108 countries lived in acute multidimensional poverty, representing 18.9 per cent of the 6.3 billion people covered by the index.
Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest regional rate, with 616 million people, or 51.4 per cent of its population, affected. South Asia followed with 393 million.
Rural communities accounted for 998 million people living in multidimensional poverty, or 83.3 per cent of the global total, compared with about 200 million in urban areas. Poverty incidence stood at 28.7 per cent in rural areas and seven per cent in urban areas.
Children under 18 made up 617 million, or 51.5 per cent, of the world’s multidimensionally poor population. About one in three children lived in poverty, compared with one in seven adults. In sub-Saharan Africa, 355 million children were affected, accounting for 57.7 per cent of the region’s poor population.
The report said the global number of people living in multidimensional poverty had risen for the first time since the index began in 2010. The latest figure was 51.5 million higher than the previous update.
Of those affected, 534 million, or 44.6 per cent, faced severe poverty, meaning they suffered deprivation in at least half of the weighted indicators. Another 952 million people were considered vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
Despite the increase, the report found that 33 of 89 countries with comparable data had cut their MPI values by at least half in fewer than 15 years, including six in sub-Saharan Africa.
The findings relate to the United Nations’ goal of halving the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty in all its dimensions by 2030. The report called for renewed efforts to tackle overlapping deprivations, noting that major progress remained possible.
