415 million Indians came out of multidimensional poverty in 15 years, says UNDP study

Source: The post is based on the article “415 million Indians came out of multidimensional poverty in 15 years, says UNDP study” published in The Hindu on 12th July 2023

What is the News?

The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index(MPI) 2023 has been released.

What is the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)?

Global MPI is a key international resource that measures acute multidimensional poverty across more than 100 developing countries.

It was first launched in 2010 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The Global MPI advances SDG 1 – ending poverty in all its forms everywhere. It also measures interconnected deprivations across indicators related to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 11.

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What are the key findings of the report?

Source: UNDP

Globally: 25 countries including India have successfully halved their global MPI values within 15 years, indicating that substantial progress is attainable.

– Around 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people (just over 18%) live in acute multidimensional poverty across 110 countries.

– Sub-Saharan Africa (534 million) and South Asia (389 million) are home to approximately five out of every six poor people.

– Nearly two-thirds of all poor people (730 million people) live in middle-income countries, making action in these countries vital for reducing global poverty.

– Children under 18 years old account for half of MPI-poor people (566 million). The poverty rate among children is 27.7%, while among adults it is 13.4%. 

– Poverty predominantly affects rural areas, with 84% of all poor people living in rural areas.

India: Around 415 million people exited poverty within a span of just 15 years between 2005 to 2021 in India.

The number of people in multidimensional poverty in India decreased from approximately 645 million in 2005-06 to about 370 million in 2015-16 and further to 230 million in 2019-21.Hence, the incidence of poverty fell from 55.1% to 16.4% during the period.

Deprivation in ​​​​all indicators declined in India.

The poorest states and disadvantaged groups, including children and individuals from marginalized castes, experienced the fastest progress in reducing poverty.

People who are multidimensionally poor and deprived under the nutrition indicator in India declined from 44.3% in 2005/2006 to 11.8%in 2019/2021 and child mortality fell from 4.5% to 1.5%.