About the Index
The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is published jointly by UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford. Unlike income-based poverty measures, the MPI captures overlapping deprivations across three dimensions using 10 indicators:
- Health (1/3 weightage) — Nutrition, Child mortality
- Education (1/3) — Years of schooling, School attendance
- Standard of Living (1/3) — Cooking fuel, Sanitation, Drinking water, Electricity, Housing, Assets
A person is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least one-third (33.3%) of these weighted indicators. The MPI value is the product of the headcount ratio (share of population that is poor) and the intensity of poverty (average deprivation score among the poor).
Note: The MPI does not rank countries in a traditional league table. Instead, it reports MPI values, headcount ratios, and intensity scores for each country. The india_rank field is set to 0 as the index does not provide numerical country rankings.
India’s Performance
India has the largest absolute number of multidimensionally poor people globally — 234 million (23.4 crore). However, this must be contextualised against India’s population of 1.4 billion.
- MPI Value: 0.065
- Headcount Ratio: 16.4% of the population is multidimensionally poor
- Intensity of Deprivation: 42.0%
India demonstrated remarkable progress between NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21), lifting approximately 135 million people out of multidimensional poverty. The headcount ratio dropped from 24.85% to 14.96% during this period.
Deprivations in nutrition and cooking fuel remain the biggest contributors to India’s MPI.
Regional / BRICS Comparison
| Country | MPI Value | Headcount Ratio | People in Poverty |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | 0.065 | 16.4% | 234 million |
| Bangladesh | 0.104 | 24.6% | 42 million |
| Pakistan | 0.198 | 40.1% | 93 million |
| China | 0.003 | 0.8% | 11 million |
| South Africa | 0.025 | 6.3% | 4 million |
Key Highlights of Latest Edition
- 1.1 billion people across 112 developing countries live in acute multidimensional poverty
- Over half (584 million) of the world’s poor are children under age 18
- The 2024 report theme is “Poverty Amid Conflict” — 455 million poor people live in conflict-affected countries
- Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest regional poverty incidence; Chad (MPI: 0.517) has the world’s highest MPI value
- India is the fastest poverty reducer among countries with large poor populations
- 25 countries (including India, China, and Bangladesh) successfully halved their MPI values within 15 years
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: MPI issuing bodies, three dimensions and 10 indicators, India’s headcount ratio, deprivation threshold (33.3%), number of poor in India Mains GS-2: Poverty alleviation programmes, NFHS data, welfare schemes evaluation, global development indicators Mains GS-3: Inclusive growth, nutrition security, rural-urban poverty divide, development economics Interview: “India lifted 135 million out of poverty but still has the largest number of poor. Is the glass half full or half empty?”
