Global MPI

The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is an international measure of acute poverty covering over 100 developing countries. In 2018, the United Nations development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) developed a new version of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

In 2018 global MPI, five of the ten indicators were revised jointly by OPHI and UNDP to align the MPI with the 2030 Agenda. This is in response to the Agenda’s call for a better measure of progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1 – “to end poverty in all its forms” – and to help achieve the principle of leaving no one behind.

The global MPI complements traditional income-based poverty measures by capturing the severe deprivations that each person faces at the same time with respect to education, health and living standards.

The MPI assesses poverty at the individual level. If someone is deprived in a third or more of ten (weighted) indicators, the global index identifies them as ‘MPI poor’, and the extent – or intensity – of their poverty is measured by the number of deprivations they are experiencing.

The MPI can be used to create a comprehensive picture of people living in poverty, and permits comparisons both across countries, regions and the world and within countries by ethnic group, urban/rural location, as well as other key household and community characteristics.

This makes it invaluable as an analytical tool to identify the most vulnerable people – the poorest among the poor, revealing poverty patterns within countries and over time, enabling policy makers to target resources and design policies more effectively.

Visit the OPHI website for 2019 Global MPI.

2018 Global MPI info is available here.