Poverty statistics released for Mauritius and Morocco

Official data reveals significant poverty challenges in Mauritius and Morocco, highlighting different dimensions of deprivation.

In Mauritius, government statistics presented to Parliament indicate that 130,000 people, representing 10.8% of the national population, experienced severe multidimensional poverty in 2022. This figure includes significant hardships in education, employment, healthcare, housing, and standard of living. While National Empowerment Foundation records show only 19,431 people receiving state support as of September 2026, officials acknowledged that these aid registries do not fully reflect the actual scale of poverty across the republic.

In Morocco, the 2026 Multidimensional Poverty Index by the UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative reports that 2.42 million people, or 6.4% of the population, live in multidimensional poverty. The report identifies education as the largest contributor to this poverty at 46.8%, followed by living conditions at 28.8% and health at 24.4%. Additionally, approximately 4.14 million Moroccans are classified as vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.