The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has estimated that 113 million Nigerians, representing 48.7 per cent of the population, live in multidimensional poverty, with the country’s progress in reducing deprivation reversed in recent years.
The finding is contained in the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index released on Monday by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) at the University of Oxford.
The report measures poverty beyond income, examining overlapping disadvantages in health, education and living standards, including inadequate nutrition, limited access to schooling, electricity, safe drinking water and proper sanitation.
Although Nigeria recorded progress in reducing multidimensional poverty during the 2010s, the report said the gains had been reversed in the 2020s, with both the poverty rate and the number of people affected increasing.
Using comparable estimates, the report said Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty rate fell from 42.3 per cent in 2013 to 33 per cent in 2021 before rising to 38.7 per cent in 2024.
The increase represents nearly 18 million additional people living in multidimensional poverty. According to the report, about three-quarters of the increase resulted from the higher poverty rate, while the remainder was attributable to population growth.
The 38.7 per cent figure is part of the comparable trend series, while the report’s latest overall estimate puts the share of Nigerians living in multidimensional poverty at 48.7 per cent, or approximately 113 million people.
The report also found that the average poor Nigerian experiences deprivation in 55 per cent of the weighted indicators used to measure poverty. It estimated that 28.7 per cent of Nigerians live in severe multidimensional poverty.
The burden is particularly pronounced in rural communities. According to the report, 68.9 per cent of rural Nigerians live in multidimensional poverty, compared with 24.8 per cent of those in urban areas.
Severe multidimensional poverty is also substantially higher in rural areas, affecting 45.1 per cent of the rural population compared with 9.3 per cent of urban residents.
The report identified the North-West and North-East as the regions where multidimensional poverty is most concentrated, highlighting persistent disparities in access to essential services and living conditions.
Among the major deprivation indicators are access to clean cooking fuel and electricity. The report found that 47.4 per cent of Nigerians experience both poverty and deprivation in access to clean cooking fuel, while 37.6 per cent experience poverty alongside a lack of electricity.
These indicators reflect how poverty can persist even beyond a household’s income level, as families may struggle to access basic services and resources needed for a decent standard of living.
Globally, the 2026 report estimated that 1.2 billion people across 108 developing countries live in acute multidimensional poverty, representing 18.9 per cent of the population covered by the index.
The figure is 51.5 million higher than the previous comparable update, marking the first recorded increase in the global number of people living in multidimensional poverty since the index was introduced in 2010.
Children account for 617 million of those affected, representing more than half of the global total, while 83 per cent of people living in multidimensional poverty reside in rural areas.
UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said the global increase should serve as a wake-up call, noting that people living in poverty often face several interconnected hardships, including hunger, missed schooling and inadequate access to clean water and electricity.
“The rise in poverty should be a wake-up call for the world,” De Croo said.
The report also highlighted progress in some countries, noting that 33 of the 89 countries with comparable trend data had halved their multidimensional poverty index values in fewer than 15 years, including six countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The findings come as countries work towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing by at least half the proportion of people living in poverty in all its forms and dimensions by 2030.
