GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

The MPI reflects a range of deprivations that afflict a person'’s life at the same time. The measure assesses the nature and intensity of poverty at the individual level in education, health outcomes, and standard of living.
See explanation in the Notes below the table.

Countries are ranked lowest to highest MPI poverty score
(poorest countries at the bottom).

NOTES:

The lives of people living in poverty are affected by more than just their income. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) complements a traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor person faces all at once with respect to education, health and living standard. It assesses poverty at the individual level, with poor persons being those who are multiply deprived, and the extent of their poverty being measured by the range of their deprivations.

The MPI can be used to create a vivid picture of people living in poverty, both across countries, regions and the world and within countries by ethnic group, urban/rural location, or other key household characteristics. It is the first international measure of its kind, and offers an essential complement to income poverty measures because it measures deprivations directly. The MPI can be used as an analytical tool to identify the most vulnerable people, show aspects in which they are deprived and help to reveal the interconnections among deprivations. This enables policy makers to target resources and design policies more effectively. Other dimensions of interest, such as work, safety, and empowerment, could be incorporated into the MPI in the future as data become available.

The MPI reports acute poverty for 103 developing countries, which are home to 78% of the world’s people.

The MPI uses 10 indicators to measure three critical dimensions of poverty at the household level: education, health and living standard in 104 developing countries. These directly measured deprivations in health and educational outcomes as well as key services such as water, sanitation, and electricity reveal not only how many people are poor but also the composition of their poverty. The MPI also reflects the intensity of poverty – the sum of weighted deprivations that each household faces at the same time. A person who is deprived in 70% of the indicators is clearly worse off than someone who is deprived in 40% of the indicators.

The MPI was created using a technique developed by Sabina Alkire and James Foster. The Alkire Foster method measures outcomes at the individual level (person or household) against multiple criteria (dimensions and indicators). The method is flexible and can be used with different dimensions and indicators to create measures specific to different societies and situations. For example, it can be applied to measure poverty or wellbeing, target services or conditional cash transfers and for monitoring and evaluation of programmes. The method can show the incidence, intensity and depth of poverty, as well as inequality among the poor, depending on the type of data available to create the measure. Read our policy page for more information on the method and the countries that have adopted it.

Data citation:
Alkire, Sabina and Maria Emma Santos. 2010. Multidimensional Poverty Index: 2010 Data. Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative.