Global MPI: The UNDP-OPHI Index, Alkire-Foster Method and India’s Numbers

For more than a century, poverty was measured in one dimension — income. Amartya Sen's capability approach challenged that reduction, and Sabina Alkire and James Foster's Alkire-Foster (AF) method (2007) operationalised it into a measurable index. Since 2010, the UNDP Human Development Report has used the AF method to publish the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). The 2025 edition, titled Overlapping Hardships: Poverty and Climate Hazards, counted 1.1 billion people across 109 countries in acute multidimensional poverty and, for the first time, laid climate-hazard exposure over the poverty map. India's headline finding is unchanged from earlier editions — about 415 million people exited multidimensional poverty between 2005-06 and 2019-21, the largest country-level decline recorded — and it is unchanged for a reason worth stating: the Indian numbers still rest on NFHS-5 fieldwork from 2019-21.

This guide explains the methodology, India's performance and the policy implications.

Why Multidimensional Poverty?

Income-based poverty measures fail to capture:

• Simultaneous deprivations — a household with enough income can still lack nutrition or schooling.
• Public goods access — water, sanitation, electricity are not purchased daily.
• Non-cash deprivations — child mortality, years of schooling.
• Capability gaps — functionings and freedoms (Sen).

Multidimensional poverty captures who is poor and how they are poor.

The Alkire-Foster Methodology

Developed by Sabina Alkire and James Foster (OPHI, Oxford) in 2007. The method:

1. Identifies deprivations across specified indicators.
2. Applies weights to each indicator.
3. Computes a weighted deprivation score for each household.
4. A household is MPI-poor if its score crosses a threshold (usually 33.3%).
5. Headcount (H) and Intensity (A) are combined: MPI = H × A.

Global MPI — 10 Indicators Across 3 Dimensions

Health (weight: 1/3)

• Nutrition.
• Child mortality.

Education (weight: 1/3)

• Years of schooling.
• School attendance.

Living Standards (weight: 1/3)

• Cooking fuel.
• Sanitation.
• Drinking water.
• Electricity.
• Housing.
• Assets.

Each of the six living-standards indicators is weighted at 1/18; health and education indicators at 1/6 each.

Data Sources for India

• National Family Health Survey (NFHS) — household-level data on health, nutrition, child indicators.
• Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) — for complementary measures.
• PLFS / NSS — employment and earnings.

Global MPI uses NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21) as the primary comparison points for India.

India's Global MPI 2024 Findings

• Total MPI-poor in 2019-21: 23.45 crore (16.4% headcount) — down from 55.1% in 2005-06.
• 415 million exited between 2005-06 and 2019-21.
• MPI value fell from 0.283 to 0.069.
• Intensity of poverty (A) — 42% of possible deprivations among the poor (marginal decline).
• Fastest improvements: sanitation, cooking fuel, electricity, housing, nutrition.
• Slowest improvements: years of schooling, child mortality in specific regions.

State-Wise Highlights

• Bihar — highest MPI headcount in 2019-21 (~34%).
• Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh — recorded the largest absolute exits (by number of people).
• Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim — lowest MPI values.
• North-east — significant progress but concentrated deprivation in some districts.

NITI Aayog's National MPI (India)

NITI Aayog adapted the global framework for India with 12 indicators (adding maternal health and bank accounts/financial inclusion) across the same three dimensions:

• Baseline MPI 2021 (based on NFHS-4, 2015-16) — 24.85% headcount.
• National MPI Progress Review 2023 (based on NFHS-5, 2019-21) — 14.96% headcount.
• 13.5 crore exited multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
• Target: half the headcount (7.48%) by 2030 — linked to SDG 1.2.

Additional Indicators in National MPI

• Maternal health — antenatal care, institutional delivery.
• Bank account / financial inclusion.

Drivers of India's MPI Exit

• Swachh Bharat Mission — sanitation coverage rose sharply.
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana — LPG access reduced cooking fuel deprivation.
• Saubhagya Scheme — near-universal household electrification.
• Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana — rural and urban housing.
• Jal Jeevan Mission — tap water coverage rising toward universal.
• Ayushman Bharat — health access for BPL households.
• Poshan Abhiyaan / Poshan 2.0 — nutrition outcomes.
• Samagra Shiksha — education indicators.

Methodological Critiques

• Weight arbitrariness. Weights are equal across dimensions; different weight choices change results.
• Static indicator set. Some indicators (like child mortality) are lagged; current data may not reflect the current household situation.
• Quality vs access. MPI measures access (school attendance) but not quality (learning outcomes).
• Urban-specific deprivations — MPI was designed for developing-world rural contexts; urban deprivations like overcrowding, insecure tenure, air pollution are not captured.
• Climate and environmental deprivations — not directly captured.
• Data vintage — NFHS-5 is 2019-21; next round not yet published.

Relationship with Income Poverty

MPI and income poverty overlap but are distinct:

• Some income-non-poor households are MPI-poor (e.g., income but no sanitation).
• Some income-poor households are MPI-non-poor (less common).
• HCES 2022-23 released in 2024 showed sharp declines in income/consumption poverty as well.

Global Context

• Global MPI 2024 — 1.1 billion people multidimensionally poor across 112 countries.
• Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia together host over 80% of the global MPI-poor.
• India's progress is the largest country-level exit recorded in MPI history.

Latest Developments (2024-26)

MPI 2024 Publication. UNDP-OPHI Global MPI 2024 confirmed India's 415 million exit between 2005-06 and 2019-21.

HCES 2022-23. Household Consumption Expenditure Survey data released 2024 showed rural poverty below 5% and urban around 4% by Tendulkar-equivalent poverty lines.

NFHS-6. Field work for NFHS-6 began 2023-24; results will update MPI with 2023-24 household data.

National MPI Progress Review 2025. Expected from NITI Aayog with latest data.

Caste Census 2025. Union Cabinet approved caste enumeration in the next national census (April 2025) — will enable MPI disaggregation by caste for the first time at national scale.

Women's Reservation Act. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023 — post-delimitation, gender-sensitive MPI tracking becomes more policy-relevant.

Global Gender Gap Index 2024. India ranked 129/146; MPI gender disaggregation reveals women-headed households often have higher MPI values.

SDG Progress Tracking. MPI aligned with SDG 1.2 — "reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030."

Policy Directions

• Deepen interventions on slowest-improving indicators (schooling years, nutrition in specific states).
• Address urban deprivations not captured by MPI.
• Gender-disaggregated tracking.
• Integration with Aspirational Districts and Aspirational Blocks programmes.
• Climate-sensitive MPI indicators — air quality, water security.
• Real-time monitoring through administrative data (UDISE+, HMIS).

UPSC Relevance

GS Paper I — Indian Society

• Poverty and developmental issues.

GS Paper II — Governance, Social Justice

• Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections.
• Issues relating to poverty and hunger.

GS Paper III — Economy

• Inclusive growth; economic development.

Possible mains questions

1. "Multidimensional poverty captures what income poverty misses. Discuss the Global MPI 2024 findings for India." (250 words)
2. "The Alkire-Foster method is a rigorous tool for measuring complex deprivation. Examine with reference to India's National MPI." (150 words)
3. "Despite MPI exit, India's poverty profile remains unfinished. Critically analyse." (150 words)

Prelims pointers. Global MPI — UNDP and OPHI; Alkire-Foster method (2007); 10 indicators, 3 dimensions; MPI = H × A; NITI Aayog National MPI — 12 indicators; NFHS-4 (2015-16) and NFHS-5 (2019-21); Global MPI 2024 — 415 million India exit; national headcount 2021 — 14.96%; SDG 1.2 target halving by 2030.

Essay themes. "Dimensions of dignity"; "Poverty is more than income"; "Measuring progress that lasts".

MPI has shifted the global poverty conversation from income to capabilities. India's 2024 numbers are a triumph worth celebrating — and a reminder of how much remains to be done.

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