KATHMANDU: The government has shown that the number of people living below the multi-dimensional poverty line in Nepal is still 4.98 million or 17.4 percent.

The National Planning Commission, in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and with the participation of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNICEF, released its National Multidimensional Poverty Statistics (MPI) report.

The National Planning Commission, in collaboration with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and with the participation of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UNICEF, released its National Multidimensional Poverty Statistics (MPI) report.

The report, which was first made public in December 2017 on the basis of 2014 data, was made public on Wednesday for the second time on the basis of 2019 data.

While the government’s first report showed 7.36 million (28.62%) living below the multidimensional poverty line, the second report states that the number of people living below the multidimensional poverty line has decreased.

According to the data released by the department on the basis of consumer goods, multidimensional poverty is measured on the basis of 10 indicators of health, education and living standard.

According to the statistics, the highest number of people under poverty line is 39.5 percent in Karnali and the lowest is 7 percent in Bagmati. Similarly, it is 25.3 percent in Sudurpashchim, 24.2 percent in Province-2, 18.2 percent in Lumbini, 15.9 percent in Province-1 and 9.6 percent in Gandaki.