Multidimensional Poverty in Maldives

5 June, 2020

Maldives Multidimensional Poverty Index 2020 was launched on June 4, 2020 by Maldives government in a joint effort of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of Maldives, UNICEF Maldives and Oxford Human Development Initiative (OPHI), with support and input from relevant stakeholders.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) captures acute deprivations that people suffer from. It complements traditional income-based poverty measures in the country and identifies a range of disadvantages the poor experience. The MPI creates a comprehensive picture of various form of multidimensional poverty for the country as a whole, for Male’ and the Atolls as well as for various socio-economic subgroups.

The Maldives MPI is based on three dimensions and 8 indicators. A person is considered multidimensionally poor if he/she is deprived in at least 34 percent of the weighted indicators (which is equivalent to being deprived in more than one dimension). All the required data to compute the MPI stems from one data source which in the case of the Maldives is the Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2016/17.

In 2016, 28 percent of the population was multidimensionally poor. On average, the poor experienced more than half (51 percent) of all the deprivations.

A regional comparison reveals that 10% of the population in Male’ was multidimensionally poor whereas 40% of the population is poor in the Atolls. Even though only 61% of the population lived in the Atolls, 87% of Maldives’ poor population lived in the Atolls. Only about 13 percent of the country’s multidimensionally poor lived in the capital city, Male’, disproportionately less than Male’s population share.

Years of schooling contributed close to one fifth (19%) to overall poverty at the national level. Access to health contributed 16% to the overall contribution.

Maldives MPI – Dimensions and Indicators

Maldives is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean. It lies Southwest from Sri Lanka and India. The country is composed by 20 administrative Atolls with Male’ being the capital city.

Looking at age groups, children have a higher likelihood of being multidimensionally poor than any other age group. 34% of 0-17 year old live in MPI poor households.

Maldives MPI is a joint product of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), UNICEF Maldives and Oxford Human Development Initiative (OPHI), with support and input from relevant stakeholders. The results of first MPI is based on Demographic Health Survey (DHS) 2016/17.