Table 1 Global MPI indicator definitions and weights.

From: The global Multidimensional Poverty Index: Harmonised level estimates and their changes over time

Dimension of Poverty

Indicator

Deprived if living in a household where…

SDG area

Weight

Health

Nutrition

Any eligible person is undernourished1.

SDG 2

\(\frac{1}{6}\)

Child mortality

A child under 18 has died in the household in the five-year period preceding the survey2.

SDG 3

\(\frac{1}{6}\)

Education

Years of schooling

No eligible household member has completed six years of schooling3.

SDG 4

\(\frac{1}{6}\)

School attendance

Any school-aged child3 is not attending school up to the age at which he/she would .complete class 84.

SDG 4

\(\frac{1}{6}\)

Living

Standards

Cooking fuel

A household cooks using solid fuel, such as dung, agricultural crop, shrubs, wood, charcoal or coal5.

SDG 7

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

Sanitation

The household has unimproved or no sanitation facility or it is improved but shared with other households6.

SDG 6

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

Drinking water

The household’s source of drinking water is not safe or safe drinking water is a 30-minute walk or longer walk from home, roundtrip7.

SDG 6

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

Electricity

The household has no electricity8.

SDG 7

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

Housing

The household has inadequate housing materials in any of the three components: floor, roof, or walls9.

SDG 11

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

Assets

The household does not own more than one of these assets: radio, TV, telephone, computer, animal cart, bicycle, motorbike, or refrigerator, and does not own a car or truck.

SDG 1

\(\frac{1}{18}\)

  1. Notes: For more details, including country-specific decisions, see the underlying methodological note32. The global MPI is related to the following SDGs: No Poverty (SDG 1), Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Health & Well-being (SDG 3), Quality Education (SDG 4), Clean Water & Sanitation (SDG 6), Affordable & Clean Energy (SDG 7), Sustainable Cities & Communities (SDG 11).
  2. 1Children under 5 years (60 months and younger) are considered undernourished if their z-score of either height-for-age (stunting) or weight-for-age (underweight) is below minus two standard deviations from the median of the reference population. Children 5–19 years (61–228 months) are identified as deprived if their age-specific BMI cutoff is below minus two standard deviations. Adults older than 19 to 70 years (229–840 months) are considered undernourished if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is below 18.5 kg/m2. 2The child mortality indicator of the global MPI is based on birth history data provided by mothers aged 15–49. In most surveys, men have provided information on occurrence of child mortality as well but this lacks the date of birth and death of the child. Hence, the indicator is constructed solely from mothers. However, if the data from the mother is missing, and if the male in the household reported no child mortality, then we identify no occurrence of child mortality in the household. 3If all individuals in the household are in an age group where they should have formally completed six or more years of schooling, but none have this achievement, then the household is deprived. However, if any individuals aged 10 years and older reported six years or more of schooling, the household is not deprived. 4Data source for the age children start compulsory primary school: DHS or MICS survey reports; or http://data.uis.unesco.org/. 5If survey report uses other definitions of solid fuel, we follow the survey report. 6A household is considered non-deprived in sanitation if it has some type of flush toilet or latrine, or ventilated improved pit or composting toilet, provided that they are not shared. If the survey report uses other definitions of improved sanitation, we follow the survey report. 7A household is considered non-deprived in drinking water if the water source is any of the following types: piped water, public tap, borehole or pump, protected well, protected spring, or rainwater. It must also be within a 30-minute walk, round trip. If the survey report uses other definitions of improved drinking water, we follow the survey report. 8A small number of countries do not collect data on electricity because of 100% coverage. In such cases, we identify all households in the country as non-deprived in electricity. 9Deprived if floor is made of natural materials (mud/clay/earth, sand or dung) or if dwelling has no roof or walls or if either the roof or walls are constructed using natural or rudimentary materials such as such as carton, plastic/ polythene sheeting, bamboo with mud/stone with mud, loosely packed stones, uncovered adobe, raw/reused wood, plywood, cardboard, unburnt brick or canvas/tent. The definition of natural and rudimentary materials follows the classification used in country-specific DHS or MICS questionnaires..
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