Nigeria Leads Global Poverty Rise, 17.9m More People Multidimensionally Poor—UN

Nigeria recorded the sharpest increase in multidimensional poverty of any country in the world between 2021 and 2024, with 17.9 million more people falling into poverty, according to the 2026 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
The report, released Monday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), said Nigeria’s earlier gains were reversed. Poverty fell between 2018 and 2021, then rose in the following three years. Afghanistan had the next-largest increase, at 5.3 million people.
Nigeria is one of five countries where poverty rose during their assessment periods, alongside Afghanistan, the Central African...