BEIRUT, Mar 17 (NNN-NNA) – An official Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Lebanon, revealed yesterday that, 53.1 percent of the country’s residents are poor and 16.2 percent categorised as extremely poor.
Issued by the Central Administration for Statistics and the World Bank, the index is derived from 19 indicators across five dimensions, including education, health, financial security/well-being, basic infrastructure and living standards.
A statement released by the World Bank said, the largest contributors to national MPI-poverty are, deprivations in health insurance (24.8 percent), followed by school attainment (18.3 percent) and low-security work (9.7 percent).
Across the eight Lebanese governorates, Akkar and Bekaa are the poorest, while the greatest intensity of poverty is experienced in Beirut, the World Bank statement noted.
Lebanon has been facing an unprecedented financial crisis, amid a shortage of foreign currency reserves, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the Beirut port explosions in 2020, that destroyed a big part of the capital city.– NNN-NNA
