Morocco has significantly reduced its multidimensional poverty rate, cutting the number of affected people from around 5.68 million to 2.82 million. The underlying index value dropped from 0.078 to 0.033, according to the latest UN report. The country now ranks among 33 nations worldwide that have halved their multidimensional poverty index in less than 15 years, a measure tracked by the UNDP.
The most recent estimate for Morocco, based on household surveys from 2017 to 2018, puts the multidimensional poverty rate at 6.4 percent. An additional 10.9 percent of the population faces risk of falling into poverty. These figures reflect the survey period rather than a new nationwide assessment in 2026.
How the Index Measures Poverty
The global index measures deprivations in health, education, and living standards using 10 indicators: nutrition, child mortality, school years, school attendance, access to drinking water, sanitation, electricity, housing quality, and household assets. A household is classified as multidimensionally poor when its members experience deprivations in at least one third of these weighted indicators. The 2026 report covers 108 countries with 6.3 billion people. An estimated 1.2 billion people, or 18.9 percent of the surveyed population, live in acute multidimensional poverty. More than half of those affected globally are children, and 83.3 percent live in rural areas.
Global Numbers Rise for First Time in 15 Years
The number of people in multidimensional poverty has risen for the first time in 15 years, reaching 1.2 billion globally. That represents 51.5 million more people than in last year's update. The report attributes the increase partly to population growth outpacing improvements in living standards. Updated population estimates across 95 countries without new surveys accounted for nearly 16 million of the increase. The remainder comes from 13 countries with new data, reflecting changes in poverty rates, population, and variations in indicator coverage. UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo called the rise a wake-up call for the world. Five countries with new surveys, including Egypt, Nepal, Tajikistan, Angola, and Zambia, nonetheless reduced the share of their populations in poverty. In Angola and Zambia, population growth meant the absolute number of people in poverty still rose despite the lower percentage.
China and Eswatini Lead Progress
China showed the fastest reduction among countries with available data. The index value fell between 2010 and 2014. Eswatini has also made sustained progress, with the share of its population in multidimensional poverty dropping from 38.71 percent in the 2006-07 survey to 7.98 percent in 2021-22, according to harmonized data from the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative. The UNDP reports that 33 countries total have halved their index value in less than 15 years. Six of these are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Halving Poverty by 2030 Remains Achievable
The index supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of at least halving the share of people in poverty in all its forms by 2030. The authors of the 2026 update believe this target remains within reach. The UNDP and Oxford researchers explained that reducing multidimensional poverty is difficult but achievable through action against overlapping disadvantages that extend beyond income. Morocco, China, and Eswatini demonstrate that such progress is possible across multiple survey cycles, even as global numbers have recently risen.