More than one-third of Pakistan’s population faces overlapping hardships in health, education and living standards, according to UNDP’s latest global poverty assessment.
The 2026 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) puts Pakistan’s poverty rate at 38.3%, compared with 16.4% in India and 14.9% in Bangladesh.
However, the estimates draw on household surveys from different years. They do not offer a same-year comparison or a direct measure of current income poverty.
UNDP and Oxford University’s Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative released the update on Monday, October 12. It covers 108 countries with a combined population of 6.3 billion.
Pakistan’s poverty extends beyond income
Among Pakistanis experiencing multidimensional poverty, the average intensity of deprivation stood at 51.7%. This means affected people faced, on average, just over half of the weighted deprivations that the index measures.
Another 12.9% of Pakistan’s population remained vulnerable to multidimensional poverty, highlighting the risk of further hardship.
The MPI examines ten indicators across three dimensions. These include nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, cooking fuel and household assets.
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It classifies people as multidimensionally poor when their deprivations reach at least one-third of the weighted indicators.
The measure therefore captures difficulties that income figures alone may overlook, including missed schooling and inadequate access to essential services.
Global poverty count reaches 1.2 billion
Worldwide, 1.2 billion people now live in acute multidimensional poverty, an increase of 51.5 million from the previous update.
UNDP described this as the first increase in the global count since the index began in 2010. Children account for 617 million of those affected, more than half the total. Rural communities account for 83%.
However, the increase does not mean that 51.5 million people newly fell into poverty. UNDP said population growth contributed to the higher count.
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Updated population estimates added 15.8 million people across 95 countries without new survey data. Changes in poverty incidence, demographics and indicator coverage contributed to the remaining difference.
“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.”
South Asia faces overlapping disadvantages
South Asia’s multidimensional poverty rate stood at approximately 19.3%, while another 18.4% of its population remained vulnerable.
Living standards contributed 36.3% to the region’s MPI, followed by education at 33.7% and health at 29.9%.
The region accounts for at least one-third of global deprivations in nutrition, housing and years of schooling.
It also has 150 million poor people living in households where a school-aged child does not attend school.
Despite the global setback, the report found evidence of sustained progress. Among 89 countries with trend data, 33 had halved their MPI value in fewer than 15 years.
