By Ajibola Olaide, JKNewsMedia Reporter
THE 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index has exposed a sharp reversal in poverty reduction, with 17.9 million additional people in Nigeria falling into multidimensional poverty between 2021 and 2024, the largest increase recorded globally among countries with comparable data.
JKNewsMedia.com reports that the latest figures from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) show that Nigeria experienced the largest absolute increase in multidimensional poverty among countries with comparable data, overtaking Afghanistan, which recorded an additional 5.3 million people affected.
The development marks a reversal of Nigeria’s earlier gains between 2018 and 2021, when the country recorded a decline in poverty incidence, The PUNCH reports.
The report identified Nigeria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Guinea and Kyrgyzstan as the five countries that experienced rising multidimensional poverty during their respective assessment periods.
Nigeria’s poverty rate rose from 33 per cent in 2021 to 38.7 per cent in 2024, an increase of 5.7 percentage points, under the report’s harmonised historical comparison.
The number of people affected increased from 72.21 million to 90.07 million, while Nigeria’s Multidimensional Poverty Index value climbed from 0.175 to 0.208.
A separate national estimate for 2024 presented a more extensive picture of deprivation, putting the number of multidimensionally poor Nigerians at 113.32 million, or 48.7 per cent of the population.
The report explained that the national figure was calculated using the latest survey without the adjustments applied to the harmonised comparison of historical trends, accounting for the difference between the estimates.
It also found that 28.7 per cent of Nigerians were experiencing severe multidimensional poverty, while 18.1 per cent remained vulnerable to falling into poverty.
Beyond the headline figures, the assessment measures deprivation across several aspects of daily life rather than relying solely on income or household consumption.
Its indicators cover nutrition, child mortality, years of schooling, school attendance, electricity, drinking water, sanitation, housing and access to basic household necessities.
Under the index, a person is considered multidimensionally poor when their household experiences deprivation across at least one-third of the weighted indicators.
The national picture also masks substantial differences between states. Kebbi, Yobe and Sokoto were among the states with the heaviest multidimensional poverty burdens, while Lagos recorded the lowest MPI value.
The report noted that communities with similar poverty levels could face different challenges, making it important to tailor interventions to their specific circumstances.
Yobe and Sokoto, for example, recorded similar MPI values, but the factors contributing to deprivation differed between the two states.
“Deprivations in nutrition and child mortality contribute more to poverty in Yobe, while in Sokoto, deprivations in water and electricity are stronger contributors,” the report stated.
It stressed that identifying the underlying causes of poverty in individual communities was essential to developing interventions that addressed their particular needs.
The findings come against a global backdrop in which 1.2 billion people, representing 18.9 per cent of the population covered by the index, were living in acute multidimensional poverty.
Of those affected worldwide, 534 million experienced severe poverty, while another 952 million were vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 616 million multidimensionally poor people, representing more than half of the global total.
Children bore a substantial share of the burden, with 617 million people under the age of 18 living in multidimensional poverty.
“Roughly one in every three children is multidimensionally poor, compared to one in seven adults,” the report stated.
Nigeria’s worsening figures present a challenge to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing poverty in all its forms and dimensions by at least half by 2030.
Separately, Professor of Political Economy Pat Utomi has raised concerns over the country’s worsening social and economic conditions, warning that poverty, hunger and insecurity, alongside declining public confidence in government institutions, are pushing Nigerians to the brink.
Utomi urged citizens to resist the erosion of democratic values ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He described the level of hardship as alarming, saying millions of Nigerians were facing food insecurity and struggling to meet their basic needs.
He also warned that the widening gap between wealthy politicians and impoverished citizens could threaten national stability.
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