UN Report: Morocco more than halved multidimensional poverty in under 15 years

Morocco has more than halved its multidimensional poverty rate in less than 15 years, placing it among 33 countries worldwide to achieve the milestone, according to the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).

The report found that Morocco’s multidimensional poverty rate fell from 17.3% in 2011 to 7.9% in the comparison of survey data, while the number of people affected declined from 5.68 million to 2.81 million.

The intensity of deprivation also decreased, with the index measuring the average extent of overlapping disadvantages falling from 0.078 to 0.033.

The report’s latest available estimates put Morocco’s multidimensional poverty rate at 6.4%, affecting approximately 2.27 million people. It also estimates that 1.4% of the population lives in extreme multidimensional poverty, while 10.9% remains vulnerable to falling into poverty.

Education remains the largest contributor to multidimensional poverty in Morocco, accounting for 46.8% of overall deprivation. Living standards contribute 28.8%, while health accounts for 24.4%.

Education remains the main source of deprivation

Morocco recorded improvements across several indicators related to education, health and living standards.

Deprivation associated with years of schooling fell from 13.7% to 5.4%, while inadequate school attendance declined from 6.8% to 3.1%.

Health-related indicators also improved. Deprivation linked to malnutrition decreased from 6.3% to 3.7%, while deprivation associated with child mortality fell from 6.6% to 3.6%.

Access to basic services improved over the period examined. The share of people deprived of drinking water declined from 11.4% to 3.7%, while deprivation linked to sanitation fell from 8.8% to 2.5%.

The proportion of people lacking adequate housing also dropped to 2.5%, while deprivation associated with access to electricity stood at 1.1%.

Despite these gains, education’s contribution to overall deprivation highlights the continued importance of improving educational access and attainment as part of efforts to reduce poverty.

More than 1.2 billion people live in acute poverty worldwide

Globally, approximately 1.2 billion people across 108 countries live in acute multidimensional poverty, according to the 2026 report. The countries covered account for roughly 6.3 billion people.

Children are disproportionately affected, representing 51.5% of people living in multidimensional poverty, or approximately 617 million people under the age of 18.

Another 952 million people worldwide are considered vulnerable to falling into multidimensional poverty.

Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 616 million people living in multidimensional poverty, while South Asia has around 393 million. Together, the two regions account for the overwhelming majority of people experiencing deprivation across the indicators measured by the index.

The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index assesses overlapping disadvantages in health, education and living standards, providing a broader measure of poverty than income alone.

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