Multidimensional poverty (MPI)
MPI = Multidimensional Poverty Index- How often
- Each new editionIrregular editions
- Last released
- 15 Jan 20242022–23
2022–23, down from 14.96% in 2019–21.
Events on this chart
Source: NITI Aayog, released 15 Jan 2024 · Chart: Clarity UPSC
- Previous
- 14.96%2019–21
- Highest
- 55.34%Jun 2005
- Lowest
- 11.28%2022–23
5 readings since Jun 2005.
Story
The share of people deprived in health, education and living standards.
What is happening now As of 2022–23
The latest figure is a projection. In a discussion paper of January 2024, the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog projects that 11.28% of Indians were multidimensionally poor in 2022-23, down from 14.96% in 2019-21, the latest period with survey data. To get it, NITI Aayog carried forward the yearly rate of decline between the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) rounds of 2015-16 and 2019-21. On this basis it estimates that about 24.82 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty between 2013-14 and 2022-23, the most in Uttar Pradesh (5.94 crore), Bihar (3.77 crore) and Madhya Pradesh (2.30 crore).
Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, NITI Aayog found, the fall came mainly from better nutrition, years of schooling, sanitation and cooking fuel. It credits schemes such as Poshan Abhiyan, the Ujjwala Yojana for cooking gas, the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Jal Jeevan Mission, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana and the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. In 2019-21 the largest deprivations were still cooking fuel (43.90% of people deprived) and housing (41.37%). NITI Aayog says India is well ahead of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 1.2 of halving multidimensional poverty by 2030.
Why it matters
Income alone does not show whether a family is poor. A household may have some money and still lack enough food, schooling, clean cooking fuel, a toilet or a proper house. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) counts people who face several such deprivations at once, so it measures poverty in the conditions people live in. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog notes that money-based measures also miss help from the state, such as subsidised food grains, housing, sanitation, and free education and health care.
Because the index is built from 12 indicators, it shows which deprivation is most common and where. NITI Aayog estimates it down to the district level so that programmes can be targeted. India uses it to report on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 1.2, which aims to at least halve the share of people living in poverty in all its dimensions by 2030.
What it is
The national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog counts people who lack several basics at the same time. It has three equally weighted dimensions: health, education and standard of living.
It uses 12 indicators: nutrition, child and adolescent mortality, maternal health, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets and bank accounts. Ten of them come from the global MPI that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) publish; maternal health and bank accounts are India's additions. Each indicator carries a weight. In the global method, a person is multidimensionally poor when the weights of the things their household lacks add up to one-third or more.
The data come from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). NFHS rounds are years apart, so NITI Aayog estimated some years from the trend: on this chart 2013-14 and 2022-23 are projections. A lower share is better.
Read this number
- The publisher
- NITI Aayog is the government's policy think tank. It publishes the national Multidimensional Poverty Index and the SDG India Index.
Terms on this page (6)
- MoSPI
- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- NFHS
- National Family Health Survey
- NITI
- National Institution for Transforming India
- OPHI
- Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative
- SDG
- Sustainable Development Goal
- UNDP
- United Nations Development Programme
History
- 2021The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog releases the baseline national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in November 2021, on data from the fourth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015-16).
- 2023The second edition, 'A Progress Review 2023', comes out in July 2023. On NFHS-5 data, the share of MPI poor falls from 24.85% in 2015-16 to 14.96% in 2019-21.
- 2024A NITI Aayog discussion paper in January 2024 extends the series back to 2005-06 and projects 2013-14 and 2022-23.
Readings
| Period | Value | Status | Released |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | 11.28% | Projection | 15 Jan 2024 |
| 2019–21 | 14.96% | Final | 15 Jan 2024 |
| 2015–16 | 24.85% | Final | 15 Jan 2024 |
| 2013–14 | 29.17% | Projection | 15 Jan 2024 |
| Jun 2005 | 55.34% | Final | 15 Jan 2024 |
For UPSC
The national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is published by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. It builds on the global MPI of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and adds maternal health and bank accounts, making 12 indicators. Know the three dimensions and that the data come from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS).