Multidimensional poverty in least developed countries: levels, patterns and progress

Working paper

Least developed countries (LDCs) are ‘low-income countries confronting severe structural impediments to sustainable development. They are highly vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks and have low levels of human assets’. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ‘Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the decade 2022–2031’ (DPoA) noted the impact of shocks and structural issues facing LDCs and outlined six key focus areas to accelerate the progress of LDCs towards the 2030 Agenda. The 2025 Doha Political Declaration—the outcome document of the Second World Summit for Social Development—again highlighted LDCs among several country groupings that face ‘special challenges’, spotlighting the need to focus on transformative actions in these contexts. Eradicating poverty ‘including extreme poverty, hunger and malnutrition, in all its forms and dimensions’ in LDCs is recognised in the first key focus area of the DPoA. LDCs will be contributing national reviews for the mid-term review of the DPoA this year, detailing their country-led progress towards the eradication of poverty. To contribute to this stocktake, this brief focuses on the current poverty status of LDCs using the lens of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (global MPI). This is a comparable measure of acute multidimensional poverty capturing individuals’ overlapping deprivations across three dimensions (health, education and living standards) and ten indicators. There are currently 44 LDCs5 of which 39 are included in the global MPI 2025.

Authors: Alkire, S; Selden, L

• Publication status: Published
• Publisher: United Nations Committee for Development Policy
• Host title: CDP Issue Brief
• Pages: 1-11
• Publication date: 2026-04-27
• Paper number: 6
• Language: English
• Keywords: poverty measurement; MPI; least developed countries; global MPI 2025; Multidimensional Poverty Index