Nigeria Records World’s Biggest Rise in Multidimensional Poverty-UNDP

Nigeria recorded the world’s largest increase in multidimensional poverty between 2021 and 2024, with an additional 17.9 million people affected, according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), published on Monday, showed that Nigeria’s earlier progress in reducing poverty between 2018 and 2021 was reversed in the subsequent three years.

The report identified Nigeria as the country with the highest absolute increase in the number of people experiencing overlapping deprivations in essential areas such as healthcare, education, housing, electricity and sanitation.

Afghanistan recorded the second-largest increase, with an additional 5.3 million people falling into multidimensional poverty during its latest assessment period.

“In absolute terms, the largest increase in the number of poor people is seen in Nigeria, where although poverty had decreased in the previous period (2018–2021), in the recent period (2021–2024), 17.9 million people became multidimensionally poor,” the report stated.

Nigeria was among five countries that recorded increases in multidimensional poverty during their respective assessment periods, alongside Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Guinea and Kyrgyzstan.

The findings highlight the scale of the country’s poverty challenge amid rising living costs, food insecurity and difficulties accessing essential services.

The report’s harmonised historical comparison showed that Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty rate increased from 33 per cent in 2021 to 38.7 per cent in 2024.

The number of people affected rose from 72.21 million to 90.07 million, while the country’s MPI value increased from 0.175 to 0.208, indicating worsening deprivation.

However, a separate national estimate for 2024 put the number of Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty at 113.32 million, representing 48.7 per cent of the population.

The report explained that the two figures were based on different approaches. The 90.07 million estimate was adjusted to allow historical comparisons, while the 113.32 million figure reflected the latest survey without those adjustments.

The figures should therefore not be treated as directly interchangeable.

The report also found that 28.7 per cent of Nigerians experienced severe multidimensional poverty, while another 18.1 per cent were vulnerable to falling into poverty.

It noted that Nigeria recorded a decline in multidimensional poverty between 2018 and 2021 before experiencing a reversal between 2021 and 2024.

Unlike conventional poverty measurements that focus mainly on income and expenditure, the Global MPI examines overlapping disadvantages across health, education and living standards.

Its indicators include nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, access to electricity, drinking water, sanitation, housing and basic household assets.

Under the methodology, individuals are classified as multidimensionally poor when they experience deprivation in at least one-third of the weighted indicators.

This means that a household may have some income but still be considered poor if its members lack essential services such as clean water, adequate sanitation, electricity, education or healthcare.

The index is designed to help governments identify both the number of people affected and the specific forms of deprivation they experience, allowing policymakers to develop more targeted interventions.

Northern States Record Higher Poverty Burdens

At the subnational level, Kebbi, Yobe and Sokoto were among the Nigerian states with the highest multidimensional poverty burdens, while Lagos recorded the lowest MPI value.

The report also found differences in the factors driving poverty across states.

In Yobe, nutrition and child mortality contributed more significantly to deprivation, while inadequate access to water and electricity were stronger contributors in Sokoto.

These differences underscore the need for interventions tailored to the circumstances of individual states rather than relying solely on a uniform national approach.

The report highlighted the importance of improving access to healthcare, education, electricity, clean water and sanitation, particularly in communities where residents face several forms of deprivation simultaneously.

Globally, the 2026 report estimated that 1.2 billion people, representing 18.9 per cent of the population covered by the index, lived in acute multidimensional poverty.

Of these, 534 million experienced severe poverty, while another 952 million people were classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 616 million people living in multidimensional poverty, representing more than half of the global total.

Children bore a disproportionate share of the burden, with 617 million people below the age of 18 classified as multidimensionally poor worldwide.

“Roughly one in every three children is multidimensionally poor, compared to one in seven adults,” the report stated.

The findings highlight the particular risks faced by children living in households where inadequate nutrition, poor housing and limited access to education and healthcare reinforce one another.

For Nigeria, the reversal in poverty reduction raises questions about the sustainability of previous gains and the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving living standards.

With the United Nations targeting significant poverty reduction by 2030 under the Sustainable Development Goals, the report underscores the need for sustained investment in essential services and policies that address the multiple disadvantages affecting millions of Nigerians.

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