According to the government, there are still 4.98 million people in Nepal who live in poverty on many levels, accounting for 17.4 percent of the population. The National Planning Commission released its National Multidimensional Poverty Statistics (MPI) report in partnership with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and with participation from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNICEF.
The study, which was first released in December 2017 using 2014 data, was made public for the second time on Wednesday using 2019 data.
While the government’s initial report indicated that 7.36 million people (28.62 percent) were living in poverty on several levels, the second report indicates that the number of people living in poverty has dropped.
Multidimensional poverty is quantified using ten indices of health, education, and living standard, according to statistics published by the department on the basis of consumer goods.
According to data, Karnali has the largest percentage of persons living in poverty (39.5%), while Bagmati has the lowest (7%). Sudurpashchim has 25.3 percent, Province-2 has 24.2 percent, Lumbini has 18.2 percent, Province-1 has 15.9 percent, and Gandaki has 9.6 percent.