Multidimensional Poverty in Belize Drops by Over 4%, Says SIB Report

The number of Belizeans living in poverty has dropped by more than 4 percent, according to the Statistical Institute of Belize. The SIB released its latest Multidimensional Poverty Index yesterday, which analyzes poverty with respect to access to basic needs as opposed to a lack of finance. The Index has a total of 17 indicators that analyze things like health, education, employment, and living standards. The data shows that in September when the survey was conducted 22.1 percent of Belizeans were multi-dimensionally poor, down from the 26.4 percent recorded in September 2023. Christian Orellana, Actg. Statistician II, SIB said that more than twenty thousand households, representing more than eighty-nine thousand people were found to be multi-dimensionally poor.

Christian Orellana, Actg. Statistician II, SIB: “The MPI analyses poverty from a deprivation standpoint which means, for example, being lack of essential needs, such as food insecurity, poor health care, underemployment, low educational levels, or substandard housing. Our national MPI is composed of four dimensions and on each dimensions we have indicators that measure. They are equally important so each dimension is given equal weight. The incidence at September 2024 was 22.1%, which means that 22.1% of the population is multidimensionally poor. The intensity of poverty was 38%, which means that on average, a poor household had a deprivation score of 38%. And our national MPI is 0.084. The incidents can also be reported in terms of count for the total population of the country and for the households of the country. In September, 2024, 89,874 persons among 20,562 households were considered to be multi-dimensionally poor.”

The SIB says that multidimensional poverty was significantly higher in rural areas compared to urban areas