UNDP Report: Nearly Two-Thirds of Afghans Living in Multidimensional Poverty

UNDP Report: Nearly Two-Thirds of Afghans Living in Multidimensional Poverty
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Nearly 65% of Afghanistan’s population is living in multidimensional poverty, with another 20% vulnerable to falling into it, according to the 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday.

The report shows Afghanistan’s MPI value at 0.360 — significantly higher than neighboring Pakistan (0.198) and Nepal (0.085), and far above the South Asian regional average of 0.091. The findings indicate that, unlike the rest of South Asia, Afghanistan has not experienced notable poverty reduction.

The study found that the intensity of deprivation among the poor stands at 55.5%, meaning affected individuals lack more than half of the essential indicators measured, such as access to education, healthcare, and basic living standards. The largest contributor to poverty was the standard of living (42.5%), followed by education (33.4%) and health (24.1%).

UNDP urged the Afghan authorities and international partners to adopt comprehensive, multi-sectoral policies that address healthcare, education, and infrastructure, warning that without coordinated action, millions could remain trapped in poverty for generations.

Globally, the report links poverty to environmental risks, noting that about 80% of the world’s multidimensionally poor people — or 887 million out of 1.1 billion — are directly exposed to climate hazards such as heatwaves, droughts, and floods.

The 2025 MPI report, titled “Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards,” calls for aligning poverty reduction strategies with climate adaptation efforts, particularly in fragile states like Afghanistan.