UNDP report shows rise in acute poverty and highlights regional disparities

In its 2026 edition, the UNDP together with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative identified 51.5 million more individuals living in acute poverty than the year before, with children representing more than half of this group. Alexander De Croo described the surge as a global warning sign, emphasizing the intertwined hardships of hunger, missed education, and lack of clean water or electricity. The report attributes much of the rise to population growth and notes that data were available for only 13 of the 108 developing nations surveyed.

Despite the overall increase, 33 countries have cut their poverty percentages by half in the last 15 years, including six in sub-Saharan Africa and fast-progressing Asian economies like China and Vietnam. The poorest populations remain concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, while nations such as Egypt, Nepal, Tajikistan, Angola, and Zambia show mixed trends of declining rates but rising absolute numbers due to demographic growth.