Global Poverty Index

The Global Poverty Index (GPI) provides a comprehensive view of poverty, evaluating deprivations across multiple dimensions such as health, education, and living standards, offering insights for policy and development.

Written By: author avatar Tumisang Bogwasi
author avatar Tumisang Bogwasi
Tumisang Bogwasi, Founder & CEO of Brimco. 2X Award-Winning Entrepreneur. It all started with a popsicle stand.

What is Global Poverty Index?

The Global Poverty Index (GPI), more commonly known as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), is an international measure of acute multidimensional poverty covering over 100 developing countries.

It identifies deprivations across health, education, and living standards at the individual level, providing a comprehensive picture of poverty beyond monetary income alone.

The MPI complements traditional income-based poverty measures, offering insights into the complex realities faced by the world’s poorest populations.

Definition

The Global Poverty Index (GPI), or Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), is a composite metric that assesses poverty based on a household’s simultaneous deprivations across multiple indicators of health, education, and living standards.

Key Takeaways

  • The Global Poverty Index (GPI) is officially known as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
  • It measures acute poverty across three critical dimensions: health, education, and living standards.
  • The MPI uses 10 indicators to determine if a household is multidimensionally poor.
  • It identifies individuals who are deprived in at least one-third of the weighted indicators.
  • Developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the MPI offers a non-monetary poverty assessment tool.

Understanding Global Poverty Index

The Global Poverty Index, or MPI, was developed in 2010 by OPHI with the UNDP to provide a more nuanced understanding of poverty.

It moves beyond solely income-based poverty lines by considering various deprivations that affect a person’s life.

The index helps policymakers understand where people are experiencing poverty and in what specific ways, allowing for more targeted interventions.

The MPI is calculated by first identifying whether a household is deprived in any of the ten indicators across the three dimensions.

Each dimension and indicator carries a specific weight, reflecting its relative importance.

A person is identified as multidimensionally poor if their weighted sum of deprivations equals or exceeds one-third of the total possible deprivations.

Formula

While there isn’t a single

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Tumisang Bogwasi
Tumisang Bogwasi, Founder & CEO of Brimco. 2X Award-Winning Entrepreneur. It all started with a popsicle stand.
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Tumisang Bogwasi

Tumisang Bogwasi, Founder & CEO of Brimco. 2X Award-Winning Entrepreneur. It all started with a popsicle stand.