Developmentrelevance: Financial protection in health is one of two dimensions of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) which is defined as all people being able to access the health services they need without facing financial hardship. As Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 3.8.2, financial protection forms part of SDG Target 3.8 (UHC) and directly relates to SDG 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and SDG 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere). As a component of UHC, it is key to improving the well-being of a country’s population, an investment in human capital and a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development.

Generalcomments: This indicator is related to Sustainable Development Goal 3.8.2 [https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed further below the $2.15 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the $2.15 poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Notesfromoriginalsource:
1. The “Pushed further below the poverty line by out-of-pocket health payments” indicators were newly introduced in the 2021 edition of the Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health (GMR). They represent the number and population shares of people who live in households which have both (a) total consumption (including out-of-pocket health payments) beneath the poverty line and (b) any out-of-pocket payments. Because the households are already poor, any out-of-pocket payments are considered financial hardship. The new indicators replace the “Change in poverty-gap due to out-of-pocket health payments”-indicators used to measure the poverty deepening effect of out-of-pocket payments in previous GMR editions (e.g., SH.UHC.NOP1.ZG and SH.UHC.NOP1.CG). For the measurement of overall medical impoverishment, the new indicators are complementary to the “Pushed below the poverty line by out-of-pocket health payments” indicators reported in all GMRs (e.g., SH.UHC.NOP1.TO and SH.UHC.NOP1.ZS), which represent the number and population share of people who live in households which lie above the poverty line when out-of-pocket health payments are included in consumption, but fall below the poverty line when out-of-pocket health payments are subtracted from consumption.

2. For the aggregated data, World Bank’s historical income classification that was based on data from each respective year was used.  For example, the FY2002 income classification based on the 2000 GNI per capita was used for the 2000 aggregates, the FY2007 income classification based on the 2005 GNI per capita was used for the 2005 aggregates, and so on.

3. For details of the definition for out-of-pocket health spending, please see the following publication:   World Health Organization and World Bank. 2021. Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2021.

Shortdefinition: Further impoverishing health spending, 2.15$ (%)

Source: Global Health Observatory. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. (https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/financial-protection)

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Out-of-pocket payments are those made by people at the time of getting any type of service (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, palliative or long-term care) provided by any type of provider. They include cost-sharing (the part not covered by a third party like an insurer) and informal payments, but they exclude insurance premiums. Out-of-pocket payments exclude any reimbursement by a third party, such as the government, a health insurance fund or a private insurance company. Out-of-pocket payments are defined as catastrophic at the 10% (25%) threshold when they represent 10% (25%) or more of household total consumption or income. They are defined as impoverishing if they push household consumption or income below the $2.15 or $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) per day poverty lines or the relative poverty line of 60% of median consumption, or if they are incurred by households already living under the $2.15 or $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) per day poverty lines or the relative poverty line of 60% of median consumption.


Aggregationmethod: Weighted average

IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed further below the $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

License_Type: CC BY-4.0

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the $3.65 poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Periodicity: Annual

Shortdefinition: Further impoverishing health spending, 3.65$ (%)

Topic: Health: Universal Health Coverage


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed further below the 60% median consumption poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition:
This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the 60% median consumption poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending.
Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Further impoverishing health spending, 60% of median (%)


Developmentrelevance: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is about ensuring that all people can access the health services they need – without facing financial hardship – is key to improving the well-being of a country’s population. UHC is also an investment in human capital and a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development. UHC is a target associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (target 3.8), and it relates directly to Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and to Goal 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere).

IndicatorName: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure (USD)

Longdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure, expressed in US dollars (2011 PPP). The poverty gap increase due to out-of-pocket health spending is one way to measure how much out-of-pocket health spending pushes people below or further below the poverty line (the difference in the poverty gap due to out-of-pocket health spending being included or excluded from the measure of household welfare). This difference corresponds to the total out-of-pocket health spending for households that are already below the poverty line, to the amount that exceeds the shortfall between the poverty line and total consumption for households that are impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending and to zero for households whose consumption is above the poverty line after accounting for out-of-pocket health spending.

Shortdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 (USD)

Source: World Health Organization and World Bank. 2019. Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2019. NOTE: This indicator has been discontinued as of December 2021. Please see the following indicators: SH.UHC.FBP1.ZS, SH.UHC.FBP2.ZS, SH.UHC.FBP1.TO and SH.UHC.FBP2.TO.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Out-of-pocket payments are those made by people at the time of getting any type of service (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, palliative or long-term care) provided by any type of provider. They include cost-sharing (the part not covered by a third party like an insurer) and informal payments, but they exclude insurance premiums. Out-of-pocket payments exclude any reimbursement by a third party, such as the government, a health insurance fund or a private insurance company. This series measures the poverty gap increase attributable to OOP health expenditures. This amount can be interpreted as the per capita amount by which on average OOP spending pushes or further pushes the household below the PL. It is defined as the difference between the poverty gap based on a measure of consumption net of OOP health expenditures and a measure of consumption gross of OOP health expenditures. The difference is expressed in 2011 PPP international dollar.


Aggregationmethod: Sum

IndicatorName: Number of people pushed below the $2.15 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the number of people living in households experiencing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household they live in would have been above the $2.15 poverty line, but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line.  Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Notesfromoriginalsource:
1. For the aggregated data, World Bank’s historical income classification that was based on data from each respective year was used.  For example, the FY2002 income classification based on the 2000 GNI per capita was used for the 2000 aggregates, the FY2007 income classification based on the 2005 GNI per capita was used for the 2005 aggregates, and so on.

2. For details of the definition for out-of-pocket health spending, please see the following publication:   World Health Organization and World Bank. 2021. Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2021.

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing health spending, 2.15$


IndicatorName: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure (% of poverty line)

Longdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure, as a percentage of the $1.90 poverty line. The poverty gap increase due to out-of-pocket health spending is one way to measure how much out-of-pocket health spending pushes people below or further below the poverty line (the difference in the poverty gap due to out-of-pocket health spending being included or excluded from the measure of household welfare). This difference corresponds to the total out-of-pocket health spending for households that are already below the poverty line, to the amount that exceeds the shortfall between the poverty line and total consumption for households that are impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending and to zero for households whose consumption is above the poverty line after accounting for out-of-pocket health spending.

Shortdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $1.90 (% of poverty line)

Source: World Health Organization and World Bank. 2019. Global Monitoring Report on Financial Protection in Health 2019.  NOTE: This indicator has been discontinued as of December 2021. Please see the following indicators: SH.UHC.FBP1.ZS, SH.UHC.FBP2.ZS, SH.UHC.FBP1.TO and SH.UHC.FBP2.TO.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Out-of-pocket payments are those made by people at the time of getting any type of service (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, palliative or long-term care) provided by any type of provider. They include cost-sharing (the part not covered by a third party like an insurer) and informal payments, but they exclude insurance premiums. Out-of-pocket payments exclude any reimbursement by a third party, such as the government, a health insurance fund or a private insurance company. This series measures the poverty gap increase attributable to OOP health expenditures. This amount can be interpreted as the per capita amount by which on average OOP spending pushes or further pushes the household below the PL. It is defined as the difference between the poverty gap based on a measure of consumption net of OOP health expenditures and a measure of consumption gross of OOP health expenditures. The difference is expressed as a percentage of the PL.


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed below the $2.15 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population experiencing out-of-pocket health impoverishing expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household they live in would have been above the $ 2.15 poverty line, but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing health spending, 2.15$ (%)


IndicatorName: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure (USD)

Longdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure, expressed in US dollars (2011 PPP). The poverty gap increase due to out-of-pocket health spending is one way to measure how much out-of-pocket health spending pushes people below or further below the poverty line (the difference in the poverty gap due to out-of-pocket health spending being included or excluded from the measure of household welfare). This difference corresponds to the total out-of-pocket health spending for households that are already below the poverty line, to the amount that exceeds the shortfall between the poverty line and total consumption for households that are impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending and to zero for households whose consumption is above the poverty line after accounting for out-of-pocket health spending.

Shortdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 (USD)


IndicatorName: Number of people pushed below the $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the number of households experiencing impoverishing out-of-pocket health expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household would have been above the $3.65 poverty line, but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line.  Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing health spending, 3.65$


IndicatorName: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure (% of poverty line)

Longdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 ($ 2011 PPP) poverty line due to out-of-pocket health care expenditure, as a percentage of the $3.20 poverty line. The poverty gap increase due to out-of-pocket health spending is one way to measure how much out-of-pocket health spending pushes people below or further below the poverty line (the difference in the poverty gap due to out-of-pocket health spending being included or excluded from the measure of household welfare). This difference corresponds to the total out-of-pocket health spending for households that are already below the poverty line, to the amount that exceeds the shortfall between the poverty line and total consumption for households that are impoverished by out-of-pocket health spending and to zero for households whose consumption is above the poverty line after accounting for out-of-pocket health spending.

Shortdefinition: Increase in poverty gap at $3.20 (% of poverty line)


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed below the $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population experiencing out-of-pocket health impoverishing expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household they live in would have been above the $3.65 poverty line, but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line.  Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing health spending, 3.65$ (%)


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed below the 60% median consumption poverty line by out-of-pocket health expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country’s population experiencing out-of-pocket health impoverishing expenditures, defined as expenditures without which the household they live in would have been above the 60% median consumption but because of the expenditures is below the poverty line. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing health spending, 60% of median (%)


Longdefinition: Number of people spending more than 10% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Catastrophic Health Expenditure, 10% of total expenditure/income


Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.8.2[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: Proportion of population spending more than 10% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: Proportion of population spending more than 10% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Catastrophic Health Expenditure, 10% of total expenditure/income (%)


Longdefinition: Number of people spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Catastrophic Health Expenditure, 25% of total expenditure/income (thousands)


IndicatorName: Proportion of population spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: Proportion of population spending more than 25% of household consumption or income on out-of-pocket health care expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Catastrophic Health Expenditure, 25% of total expenditure/income (%)


Developmentrelevance: Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is about ensuring that all people can access the health services they need without facing financial hardship. It is key to improving the well-being of a country’s population. UHC is also an investment in human capital and a foundational driver of inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development. UHC is a target associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (target 3.8), and it relates directly to Goal 3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages) and to Goal 1 (End poverty in all its forms everywhere).

Generalcomments: This is the Sustainable Development Goal indicator 3.8.1[https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/].

IndicatorName: UHC service coverage index

Longdefinition: Coverage index for essential health services (based on tracer interventions that include reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health, infectious diseases, noncommunicable diseases and service capacity and access). It is presented on a scale of 0 to 100.

Notesfromoriginalsource: For the aggregated data, World Bank’s historical income classification that was based on data from each respective year was used.  For example, the FY2002 income classification based on the 2000 GNI per capita was used for the 2000 aggregates, the FY2007 income classification based on the 2005 GNI per capita was used for the 2005 aggregates, and so on.

Shortdefinition: UHC service coverage index

Source: Global Health Observatory. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023. (https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/service-coverage)

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The Service Coverage Index used to track SDG 3.8.1 includes four indicator categories, namely (1) reproductive, manternal and newborn and child health, (2) infectious diseases, (3) non-communicable diseases and (4) service capacity and access. Each category contains several tracers. The index is constructed from geometric means of the tracer indicators; first, within each of the four categories, and then across the four category-specific means to obtain the final summary index. See Source for details about methodology.


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed or further pushed below the $2.15 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country's population who is either (1) living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the $2.15 poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending or (2) live in households whose total expenditures are above the $2.15 poverty line but fall below the $2.15 poverty line when out-of-pocket health spending is subtracted from total expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing or further impoverishing health spending, 2.15$ (%)


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed or further pushed below the $3.65 ($ 2017 PPP) poverty line by out-of-pocket health care expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country's population who is either (1) living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the $3.65 poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending or (2) live in households whose total expenditures are above the $3.65 poverty line but fall below the $3.65 poverty line when out-of-pocket health spending is subtracted from total expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing or further impoverishing health spending, 3.65$ (%)


IndicatorName: Proportion of population pushed or further pushed below the 60% median consumption poverty line by out-of-pocket health expenditure (%)

Longdefinition: This indicator shows the fraction of a country's population who is either (1) living in households whose non-health expenditures are already below the relative poverty line and who as a result are pushed further into poverty by their out-of-pocket health spending or (2) live in households whose total expenditures are above the relative poverty line but fall below the relative poverty line when out-of-pocket health spending is subtracted from total expenditure. Out-of-pocket health expenditure is defined as any spending incurred by a household when any member uses a health good or service to receive any type of care (preventive, curative, rehabilitative, long-term or palliative care); provided by any type of provider; for any type of disease, illness or health condition; in any type of setting (outpatient, inpatient, at home).

Shortdefinition: Impoverishing or further impoverishing health spending, 60% of median (%)


IndicatorName: Newborns protected against tetanus (%)

Longdefinition: Newborns protected against tetanus are the percentage of births by women of child-bearing age who are immunized against tetanus.

Source: WHO and UNICEF (http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/en/).

Topic: Health: Reproductive health


IndicatorName: Outpatient visits per capita

Longdefinition: Outpatient visits per capita are the number of visits to health care facilities per capita, including repeat visits.

Source: WHO, OECD and supplemented by country data.

Topic: Health: Health systems


Developmentrelevance: Strengthening health financing is one objective of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG target 3.c).  The levels and trends of health expenditure data identify key issues such as weaknesses and strengths and areas that need investment, for instance additional health facilities, better health information systems, or better trained human resources.  Health financing is also critical for reaching universal health coverage (UHC) defined as all people obtaining the quality health services they need without suffering financial hardship (SDG 3.8).  The data on out-of-pocket spending is a key indicator with regard to financial protection and hence of progress towards UHC.

IndicatorName: Current health expenditure (% of GDP)

Longdefinition: Level of current health expenditure expressed as a percentage of GDP.  Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year. This indicator does not include capital health expenditures such as buildings, machinery, IT and stocks of vaccines for emergency or outbreaks.

Notesfromoriginalsource: The World Health Organization (WHO) has revised health expenditure data using the new international classification for health expenditures in the revised System of Health Accounts (SHA 2011).  WHO’s Global Health Expenditure Database in this new version is the reference source for health expenditure for international comparison imbedded in a standardized framework.  The SHA 2011 clarifies the financing mechanisms and introduces new dimensions which improve the comparability of health expenditures in the perspective of universal health coverage.

Source: World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (http://apps.who.int/nha/database). The data was retrieved on April 15, 2024.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The health expenditure estimates have been prepared by the World Health Organization under the framework of the System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011).  The Health SHA 2011 tracks all health spending in a given country over a defined period of time regardless of the entity or institution that financed and managed that spending. It generates consistent and comprehensive data on health spending in a country, which in turn can contribute to evidence-based policy-making.


IndicatorName: Current health expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Current expenditures on health per capita in current US dollars. Estimates of current health expenditures include healthcare goods and services consumed during each year.


IndicatorName: Current health expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $)

Longdefinition: Current expenditures on health per capita expressed in international dollars at purchasing power parity.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The health expenditure estimates have been prepared by the World Health Organization (WHO) under the framework of the System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011). The Health SHA 2011 tracks all health spending in a given country over a defined period of time regardless of the entity or institution that financed and managed that spending. It generates consistent and comprehensive data on health spending in a country, which in turn can contribute to evidence-based policy-making. WHO converted the expenditure data using PPP time series extracted from WDI (based on ICP 2017) and OECD data. Where WDI/OECD data were not available, IMF or WHO estimates were utilized. Detailed metadata are available at <https://apps.who.int/nha/database/Select/Indicators/en>.


IndicatorName: External health expenditure (% of current health expenditure)

Longdefinition: Share of current health expenditures funded from external sources. External sources compose of direct foreign transfers and foreign transfers distributed by government encompassing all financial inflows into the national health system from outside the country. External sources either flow through the government scheme or are channeled through non-governmental organizations or other schemes.


IndicatorName: External health expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Current external expenditures on health per capita expressed in current US dollars. External sources are composed of direct foreign transfers and foreign transfers distributed by government encompassing all financial inflows into the national health system from outside the country.


IndicatorName: External health expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $)

Longdefinition: Current external expenditures on health per capita expressed in international dollars at purchasing power parity. External sources are composed of direct foreign transfers and foreign transfers distributed by government encompassing all financial inflows into the national health system from outside the country.


Developmentrelevance: Health systems - the combined arrangements of institutions and actions whose primary purpose is to promote, restore, or maintain health (World Health Organization, World Health Report 2000) - are increasingly being recognized as key to combating disease and improving the health status of populations. The World Bank's Healthy Development: Strategy for Health, Nutrition, and Population Results emphasizes the need to strengthen health systems, which are weak in many countries, in order to increase the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing specific diseases and further reduce morbidity and mortality. To evaluate health systems, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended that key components - such as financing, service delivery, workforce, governance, and information - be monitored using several key indicators. The data are a subset of the key indicators. Monitoring health systems allows the effectiveness, efficiency, and equity of different health system models to be compared. Health system data also help identify weaknesses and strengths and areas that need investment, such as additional health facilities, better health information systems, or better trained human resources.

IndicatorName: External resources for health (% of total expenditure on health)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Country data may differ in terms of definitions, data collection methods, population coverage and estimation methods used.

In countries where the fiscal year spans two calendar years, expenditure data have been allocated to the later year (for example, 2010 data cover fiscal year 2009/10).

External resources for health are disbursements to recipient countries as reported by donors, lagged one year to account for the delay between disbursement and expenditure. Except where a reliable full national health account study has been done, most data are from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Development Assistance Committee's Creditor Reporting System database, which compiles data from government expenditure accounts, government records on external assistance, routine surveys of external financing assistance, and special services. Because of the variety of sources, caution should be used in interpreting the data.

Longdefinition: External resources for health are funds or services in kind that are provided by entities not part of the country in question. The resources may come from international organizations, other countries through bilateral arrangements, or foreign nongovernmental organizations. These resources are part of total health expenditure.

Notesfromoriginalsource: In some cases, the sum of public and private expenditures on health may not add up to 100% because of rounding. All the health expenditure indicators refer to expenditures by financing agent except external resources which is a financing source. When the number is smaller than 0.05%, the percentage may appear as zero. In countries where the fiscal year begins in July, expenditure data have been allocated to the later calendar year (for example, 2010 data will cover the fiscal year 2009–10), unless otherwise stated for the country.

Source: World Health Organization Global Health Expenditure database (see http://apps.who.int/nha/database for the most recent updates).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: Health expenditure data are broken down into public and private expenditures. In general, low-income economies have a higher share of private health expenditure than do middle- and high-income countries, and out-of-pocket expenditure (direct payments by households to providers) makes up the largest proportion of private expenditures. High out-of-pocket expenditures may discourage people from accessing preventive or curative care and can impoverish households that cannot afford necessary care. Health financing data are collected through national health accounts, which systematically, comprehensively, and consistently monitor health system resource flows. To establish a national health account, countries must define the boundaries of the health system and classify health expenditure information along several dimensions, including sources of financing, providers of health services, functional use of health expenditures, and beneficiaries of expenditures. The accounting system can then provide an accurate picture of resource envelopes and financial flows and allow analysis of the equity and efficiency of financing to inform policy.


IndicatorName: Domestic general government health expenditure (% of current health expenditure)

Longdefinition: Share of current health expenditures funded from domestic public sources for health.  Domestic public sources include domestic revenue as internal transfers and grants, transfers, subsidies to voluntary health insurance beneficiaries, non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) or enterprise financing schemes as well as compulsory prepayment and social health insurance contributions. They do not include external resources spent by governments on health.


IndicatorName: Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP)

Longdefinition: Public expenditure on health from domestic sources as a share of the economy as measured by GDP.


IndicatorName: Domestic general government health expenditure (% of general government expenditure)

Longdefinition: Public expenditure on health from domestic sources as a share of total public expenditure.  It indicates the priority of the government to spend on health from own domestic public resources.


IndicatorName: Domestic general government health expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Public expenditure on health from domestic sources per capita expressed in current US dollars.


IndicatorName: Domestic general government health expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $)

Longdefinition: Public expenditure on health from domestic sources per capita expressed in international dollars at purchasing power parity.


IndicatorName: Out-of-pocket expenditure (% of current health expenditure)

Longdefinition: Share of out-of-pocket payments of total current health expenditures.  Out-of-pocket payments are spending on health directly out-of-pocket by households.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The health expenditure estimates have been prepared by the World Health Organization under the framework of the System of Health Accounts 2011 (SHA 2011).  The Health SHA 2011 tracks all health spending in a given country over a defined period of time regardless of the entity or institution that financed and managed that spending. It generates consistent and comprehensive data on health spending in a country, which in turn can contribute to evidence-based policy-making.

Aggregations are weighted by total current health expenditure (not by population).


IndicatorName: Out-of-pocket expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Health expenditure through out-of-pocket payments per capita in USD.  Out of pocket payments are spending on health directly out of pocket by households in each country.


IndicatorName: Out-of-pocket expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $)

Longdefinition: Health expenditure through out-of-pocket payments per capita in international dollars at purchasing power parity.


IndicatorName: Out-of-pocket health expenditure (% of total expenditure on health)

Limitationsandexceptions:
Country data may differ in terms of definitions, data collection methods, population coverage and estimation methods used.

In countries where the fiscal year spans two calendar years, expenditure data have been allocated to the later year (for example, 2010 data cover fiscal year 2009/10).

Longdefinition: Out of pocket expenditure is any direct outlay by households, including gratuities and in-kind payments, to health practitioners and suppliers of pharmaceuticals, therapeutic appliances, and other goods and services whose primary intent is to contribute to the restoration or enhancement of the health status of individuals or population groups. It is a part of private health expenditure.

Notesfromoriginalsource: All the health expenditure indicators refer to expenditures by financing agent except external resources which is a financing source. When the number is smaller than 0.05%, the percentage may appear as zero. In countries where the fiscal year begins in July, expenditure data have been allocated to the later calendar year (for example, 2010 data will cover the fiscal year 2009–10), unless otherwise stated for the country.


IndicatorName: Out-of-pocket health expenditure (% of private expenditure on health)


IndicatorName: Health expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditures as a ratio of total population. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Notesfromoriginalsource: All the health expenditure indicators refer to expenditures by financing agent except external resources which is a financing source. In countries where the fiscal year begins in July, expenditure data have been allocated to the later calendar year (for example, 2010 data will cover the fiscal year 2009–10), unless otherwise stated for the country.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure per capita, PPP (constant 2011 international $)

Longdefinition: Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditures as a ratio of total population. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation. Data are in international dollars converted using 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP) rates.

Notesfromoriginalsource: PPP series derived from the International Comparison Program (ICP) and estimated by the World Bank have been used. For countries where these are not available, PPPs are estimated by WHO. All the health expenditure indicators refer to expenditures by financing agent except external resources which is a financing source. When the number is smaller than 0.05%, the percentage may appear as zero. In countries where the fiscal year begins in July, expenditure data have been allocated to the later calendar year (for example, 2010 data will cover the fiscal year 2009–10), unless otherwise stated for the country.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure, private (% of GDP)

Longdefinition: Private health expenditure includes direct household (out-of-pocket) spending, private insurance, charitable donations, and direct service payments by private corporations.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure, public (% of total health expenditure)

Longdefinition: Public health expenditure consists of recurrent and capital spending from government (central and local) budgets, external borrowings and grants (including donations from international agencies and nongovernmental organizations), and social (or compulsory) health insurance funds. Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditure. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure, public (% of government expenditure)

Longdefinition: Public health expenditure consists of recurrent and capital spending from government (central and local) budgets, external borrowings and grants (including donations from international agencies and nongovernmental organizations), and social (or compulsory) health insurance funds.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure, public (% of GDP)


IndicatorName: Domestic private health expenditure (% of current health expenditure)

Longdefinition: Share of current health expenditures funded from domestic private sources.  Domestic private sources include funds from households, corporations and non-profit organizations. Such expenditures can be either prepaid to voluntary health insurance or paid directly to healthcare providers.


IndicatorName: Domestic private health expenditure per capita (current US$)

Longdefinition: Current private expenditures on health per capita expressed in current US dollars. Domestic private sources include funds from households, corporations and non-profit organizations. Such expenditures can be either prepaid to voluntary health insurance or paid directly to healthcare providers.


IndicatorName: Domestic private health expenditure per capita, PPP (current international $)

Longdefinition: Current private expenditures on health per capita expressed in international dollars at purchasing power parity.


IndicatorName: Health expenditure, total (% of GDP)

Longdefinition: Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditure. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning activities, nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution measures are important background indicators for shared prosperity.

Generalcomments: The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

IndicatorName: Income share held by second 20%

Limitationsandexceptions:
Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction.

Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards. The surveys ask detailed questions on sources of income and how it was spent, which must be carefully recorded by trained personnel. Income is generally more difficult to measure accurately, and consumption comes closer to the notion of living standards. And income can vary over time even if living standards do not. But consumption data are not always available: the latest estimates reported here use consumption data for about two-thirds of countries.

However, even similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing or in the quality and training of enumerators. Comparisons of countries at different levels of development also pose a potential problem because of differences in the relative importance of the consumption of nonmarket goods. The local market value of all consumption in kind (including own production, particularly important in underdeveloped rural economies) should be included in total consumption expenditure but may not be. Most survey data now include valuations for consumption or income from own production, but valuation methods vary.

Longdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Relatedsourcelinks: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform: https://pip.worldbank.org/

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the second quintile.

Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income.

Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption.

The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.

Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.

Topic: Poverty: Income distribution


IndicatorName: Income share held by third 20%

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the third quintile.


IndicatorName: Income share held by fourth 20%

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the fourth quintile.


IndicatorName: Income share held by highest 20%

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the fifth (wealthiest) quintile.


IndicatorName: Income share held by highest 10%

Longdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the 10th (wealthiest) decile.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income.

Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption.

The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Income distribution measures are important background indicators for shared prosperity. The share living below half the median income is Sustainable Development Goal indicator 10.2.1.

IndicatorName: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%)

Longdefinition: The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2017 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.


IndicatorName: Income share held by lowest 10%

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the first (poorest) decile.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Inequality in the distribution of income is reflected in the share of income or consumption accruing to a portion of the population ranked by income or consumption levels. The portions ranked lowest by personal income receive the smallest shares of total income.

Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to directly calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption. No adjustment has been made for spatial differences in cost of living within countries, because the data needed for such calculations are generally unavailable. For further details on the estimation method for low- and middle-income economies, see Ravallion and Chen (1996).

Survey year is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which most of the data were collected.


IndicatorName: Income share held by lowest 20%

Shortdefinition: Percentage share of income or consumption that accrues to the first (poorest) quintile.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group is committed to reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent or less, globally, by 2030. Monitoring poverty is important on the global development agenda as well as on the national development agenda of many countries. The World Bank produced its first global poverty estimates for developing countries for World Development Report 1990: Poverty (World Bank 1990) using household survey data for 22 countries (Ravallion, Datt, and van de Walle 1991). Since then there has been considerable expansion in the number of countries that field household income and expenditure surveys. The World Bank's Development Research Group maintains a database that is updated annually as new survey data become available (and thus may contain more recent data or revisions) and conducts a major reassessment of progress against poverty every year. PovcalNet is an interactive computational tool that allows users to replicate these internationally comparable $1.90 and $3.10 a day global, regional and country-level poverty estimates and to compute poverty measures for custom country groupings and for different poverty lines. The Poverty and Equity Data portal provides access to the database and user-friendly dashboards with graphs and interactive maps that visualize trends in key poverty and inequality indicators for different regions and countries. The country dashboards display trends in poverty measures based on the national poverty lines alongside the internationally comparable estimates, produced from and consistent with PovcalNet.

Generalcomments: The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. The aggregated numbers for low- and middle-income countries correspond to the totals of 6 regions in PovcalNet, which include low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia). See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at $3.10 a day (2011 PPP) (% of population)

Longdefinition: Poverty headcount ratio at $3.10 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $3.10 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Source: World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
International comparisons of poverty estimates entail both conceptual and practical problems. Countries have different definitions of poverty, and consistent comparisons across countries can be difficult. Local poverty lines tend to have higher purchasing power in rich countries, where more generous standards are used, than in poor countries.

Since World Development Report 1990, the World Bank has aimed to apply a common standard in measuring extreme poverty, anchored to what poverty means in the world's poorest countries. The welfare of people living in different countries can be measured on a common scale by adjusting for differences in the purchasing power of currencies. The commonly used $1 a day standard, measured in 1985 international prices and adjusted to local currency using purchasing power parities (PPPs), was chosen for World Development Report 1990 because it was typical of the poverty lines in low-income countries at the time. As differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the international poverty line has to be periodically updated using new PPP price data to reflect these changes. The last change was in October 2015, when we adopted $1.90 as the international poverty line using the 2011 PPP. Prior to that, the 2008 update set the international poverty line at $1.25 using the 2005 PPP. Poverty measures based on international poverty lines attempt to hold the real value of the poverty line constant across countries, as is done when making comparisons over time.

Corresponding to the $2 a day (2005 PPP) poverty line, the equivalent poverty line based on 2011 PPP is $3.10 a day.

Early editions of World Development Indicators used PPPs from the Penn World Tables to convert values in local currency to equivalent purchasing power measured in U.S dollars. Later editions used 1993, 2005, and 2011 consumption PPP estimates produced by the World Bank. The current extreme poverty line is set at $1.90 a day in 2011 PPP terms, which represents the mean of the poverty lines found in the poorest 15 countries ranked by per capita consumption. The new poverty line maintains the same standard for extreme poverty - the poverty line typical of the poorest countries in the world - but updates it using the latest information on the cost of living in developing countries. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

The statistics reported here are based on consumption data or, when unavailable, on income surveys. Analysis of some 20 countries for which income and consumption expenditure data were both available from the same surveys found income to yield a higher mean than consumption but also higher inequality. When poverty measures based on consumption and income were compared, the two effects roughly cancelled each other out: there was no significant statistical difference.

Topic: Poverty: Poverty rates


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group is committed to reducing extreme poverty to 3 percent or less, globally, by 2030. Monitoring poverty is important on the global development agenda as well as on the national development agenda of many countries. The World Bank produced its first global poverty estimates for developing countries for World Development Report 1990: Poverty (World Bank 1990) using household survey data for 22 countries (Ravallion, Datt, and van de Walle 1991). Since then there has been considerable expansion in the number of countries that field household income and expenditure surveys.

IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)

Longdefinition: Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 purchasing power adjusted prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Shortdefinition: Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 international prices.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
International comparisons of poverty estimates entail both conceptual and practical problems. Countries have different definitions of poverty, and consistent comparisons across countries can be difficult. Local poverty lines tend to have higher purchasing power in rich countries, where more generous standards are used, than in poor countries.

Since World Development Report 1990, the World Bank has aimed to apply a common standard in measuring extreme poverty, anchored to what poverty means in the world's poorest countries. The welfare of people living in different countries can be measured on a common scale by adjusting for differences in the purchasing power of currencies. The commonly used $1 a day standard, measured in 1985 international prices and adjusted to local currency using purchasing power parities (PPPs), was chosen for World Development Report 1990 because it was typical of the poverty lines in low-income countries at the time. As differences in the cost of living across the world evolve, the international poverty line has to be periodically updated using new PPP price data to reflect these changes. The last change was in September 2022, when we adopted $2.15 as the international poverty line using the 2017 PPP. Poverty measures based on international poverty lines attempt to hold the real value of the poverty line constant across countries, as is done when making comparisons over time. The $3.65 poverty line is derived from typical national poverty lines in countries classified as Lower Middle Income. The $6.85 poverty line is derived from typical national poverty lines in countries classified as Upper Middle Income.

Early editions of World Development Indicators used PPPs from the Penn World Tables to convert values in local currency to equivalent purchasing power measured in U.S dollars. Later editions used 1993, 2005, and 2017 consumption PPP estimates produced by the World Bank. The current extreme poverty line is set at $2.15 a day in 2017 PPP terms, which represents the mean of the poverty lines found in 15 of the poorest countries ranked by per capita consumption. The new poverty line maintains the same standard for extreme poverty - the poverty line typical of the poorest countries in the world - but updates it using the latest information on the cost of living in developing countries. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

The statistics reported here are based on consumption data or, when unavailable, on income surveys.


IndicatorName: Survey coverage for poverty headcount ratio (at $2.15 a day, 2017 PPP)

Longdefinition: Share of population covered by a survey within three years or reference year.


IndicatorName: Share of total poor population (at $2.15 a day, 2017 PPP)

Longdefinition: The share of total global poor population.


IndicatorName: Poverty gap at $3.10 a day (2011 PPP) (%)

Longdefinition: Poverty gap at $3.10 a day (2011 PPP) is the mean shortfall in income or consumption from the poverty line $3.10 a day (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.


IndicatorName: Poverty gap at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (%)

Longdefinition: Poverty gap at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) is the mean shortfall in income or consumption from the poverty line $2.15 a day (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country. Gini coefficients are important background information for shared prosperity.

IndicatorName: Gini index

Limitationsandexceptions:
Gini coefficients are not unique. It is possible for two different Lorenz curves to give rise to the same Gini coefficient. Furthermore it is possible for the Gini coefficient of a developing country to rise (due to increasing inequality of income) while the number of people in absolute poverty decreases. This is because the Gini coefficient measures relative, not absolute, wealth.

Another limitation of the Gini coefficient is that it is not additive across groups, i.e. the total Gini of a society is not equal to the sum of the Gini's for its sub-groups. Thus, country-level Gini coefficients cannot be aggregated into regional or global Gini's, although a Gini coefficient can be computed for the aggregate.

Because the underlying household surveys differ in methods and types of welfare measures collected, data are not strictly comparable across countries or even across years within a country. Two sources of non-comparability should be noted for distributions of income in particular. First, the surveys can differ in many respects, including whether they use income or consumption expenditure as the living standard indicator. The distribution of income is typically more unequal than the distribution of consumption. In addition, the definitions of income used differ more often among surveys. Consumption is usually a much better welfare indicator, particularly in developing countries. Second, households differ in size (number of members) and in the extent of income sharing among members. And individuals differ in age and consumption needs. Differences among countries in these respects may bias comparisons of distribution.

World Bank staff have made an effort to ensure that the data are as comparable as possible. Wherever possible, consumption has been used rather than income. Income distribution and Gini indexes for high-income economies are calculated directly from the Luxembourg Income Study database, using an estimation method consistent with that applied for developing countries.

Longdefinition: Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

Shortdefinition: The Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income or consumption among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.

The Gini index provides a convenient summary measure of the degree of inequality. Data on the distribution of income or consumption come from nationally representative household surveys. Where the original data from the household survey were available, they have been used to calculate the income or consumption shares by quintile. Otherwise, shares have been estimated from the best available grouped data.

The distribution data have been adjusted for household size, providing a more consistent measure of per capita income or consumption.

The year reflects the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year data collection started.


IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at $3.65 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)

Longdefinition: Poverty headcount ratio at $3.65 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $3.65 a day at 2017 international prices.


IndicatorName: Poverty gap at $3.65 a day (2017 PPP) (%)

Longdefinition: Poverty gap at $3.65 a day (2017 PPP) is the mean shortfall in income or consumption from the poverty line $3.65 a day (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.


Derivationmethod:
The design of a measure of multidimensional poverty is different in each country, but regardless of the exact methodology selected, it still follows a similar process to define the features of the measure, which include: i) the purpose of the measure; ii) the unit of identification (most frequently either the household or the individuals); iii) the dimensions and respective indicators that delimit which deprivations should be measured; iv) the methodology for developing the measure (including deprivation cut-offs, weights, and poverty cut-offs).

The most commonly used method is the Alkire Foster (AF) methodology which identifies dimensions, typically health, education and living standards and several indicators in each dimension. The unit of analysis could be either the individual or the household. The individuals or households are considered as multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in multiple dimensions, exceeding certain thresholds.

EU Member States, Island, Norway, Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Turkey have a different approach to measure the multidimensional poverty using the concept of "people at risk of poverty or social exclusion" (AROPE) calculated by EUROSTAT using the data from EU statistics on income and living conditions (EU-SILC). AROPE consists of three components, and individuals are considered as "at risk of poverty or social exclusion" if they are "at risk of poverty" or "severely materially and socially deprived" or "living in a household with a very low work intensity".

IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty headcount ratio (% of total population)

Limitationsandexceptions: The compiled data of multidimensional poverty is not intended to be comparable across countries due to national definitions. For instance, key parameters to calculate the measure such as the number of indicators, the weight allocated to each indicator etc, are tailored to the country specific context.

Shortdefinition: The percentage of people who are multidimensionally poor

Source: Government statistical agencies. Data for EU countires are from the EUROSTAT

Topic: Poverty:Multidimensional poverty


IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty headcount ratio, children (% of child population)

Shortdefinition: The percentage of children who are multidimensionally poor


Derivationmethod: The Multidimensional poverty index for  children is calculated by multiplying multidimensional  poverty headcount and average number of deprivations (intensity) of children.

IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty index, children (scale 0-1)

Limitationsandexceptions: The MPI here is a national MPI reported by each country and differs from the global MPI collected by the UNDP. Unlike the global MPI which uses the same dimensional and indicators, the national MPI is calculated using different dimensions and indicators by each country, therefore, it is not comparable across countries.

Shortdefinition: Proportion of the child population that is multidimensionally poor adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations


IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty headcount ratio, female (% of female population)

Shortdefinition: The percentage of female population who are multidimensionally poor


IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty headcount ratio, household (% of total households)

Shortdefinition: The percentage of households who are multidimensionally poor


Derivationmethod: The multidimensional headcount is a useful measure, but it does not increase if poor people become more deprived. Because of that, we need a different set of measures, which is the average number of deprivations, also known as intensity. Intensity is calculated by adding up the proportion of total deprivations each person suffers and dividing by the total number of poor persons.

IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty intensity

Limitationsandexceptions: It should be noted that the intensity is not comparable across diffferent countries as it depends on the parameters used in the methodology such as what kind of dimensions and indicators are used, and how the weight is constructed, which varies significantly across countries.

Shortdefinition: The average percentage of dimensions in which poor people are deprived


IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty headcount ratio, male (% of male population)

Shortdefinition: The percentage of male population who are multidimensionally poor


Derivationmethod: The Multidimensional poverty index is calculated by multiplying multidimensional  poverty headcount and average number of deprivations (intensity).

IndicatorName: Multidimensional poverty index (scale 0-1)

Limitationsandexceptions: The MPI here is a national MPI reported by each country and differs from the global MPI collected by the UNDP. Unlike the global MPI which uses the same dimensions and indicators, the national MPI is calculated using different dimensions and indicators by each country, therefore, it is not comparable across countries.

Shortdefinition: Proportion of the population that is multidimensionally poor adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations


Generalcomments: This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

IndicatorName: Poverty gap at national poverty lines (%)

Longdefinition: Poverty gap at national poverty lines is the mean shortfall from the poverty lines (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall) as a percentage of the poverty lines. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.

Source: World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Poverty headcount ratio among the population is measured based on national (i.e. country-specific) poverty lines. A country may have a unique national poverty line or separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas, or for different geographic areas to reflect differences in the cost of living or sometimes to reflect differences in diets and consumption baskets.

Poverty estimates at national poverty lines are computed from household survey data collected from nationally representative samples of households. These data must contain sufficiently detailed information to compute a comprehensive estimate of total household income or consumption (including consumption or income from own production), from which it is possible to construct a correctly weighted distribution of per capita consumption or income.

National poverty lines are the benchmark for estimating poverty indicators that are consistent with the country's specific economic and social circumstances. National poverty lines reflect local perceptions of the level and composition of consumption or income needed to be non-poor. The perceived boundary between poor and non-poor typically rises with the average income of a country and thus does not provide a uniform measure for comparing poverty rates across countries. While poverty rates at national poverty lines should not be used for comparing poverty rates across countries, they are appropriate for guiding and monitoring the results of country-specific national poverty reduction strategies.

Almost all national poverty lines are anchored to the cost of a food bundle - based on the prevailing national diet of the poor - that provides adequate nutrition for good health and normal activity, plus an allowance for nonfood spending. National poverty lines must be adjusted for inflation between survey years to remain constant in real terms and thus allow for meaningful comparisons of poverty over time. Because diets and consumption baskets change over time, countries periodically recalculate the poverty line based on new survey data. In such cases the new poverty lines should be deflated to obtain comparable poverty estimates from earlier years. The data is based on the two most recent years for which survey data are available.

Survey year is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which most of the data were collected.


Developmentrelevance: The poverty rate as defined by national poverty lines reflects the share of the population that fails to meet the standard a country thinks is necessarty to cover basic needs.

IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population)

Longdefinition: National poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line(s). National estimates are based on population-weighted subgroup estimates from household surveys. For economies for which the data are from EU-SILC, the reported year is the income reference year, which is the year before the survey year.

Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Poverty headcount ratio among the population is measured based on national (i.e. country-specific) poverty lines. A country may have a unique national poverty line or separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas, or for different geographic areas to reflect differences in the cost of living or sometimes to reflect differences in diets and consumption baskets.

Poverty estimates at national poverty lines are computed from household survey data collected from nationally representative samples of households. These data must contain sufficiently detailed information to compute a comprehensive estimate of total household income or consumption (including consumption or income from own production), from which it is possible to construct a correctly weighted distribution of per capita consumption or income.

National poverty lines are the benchmark for estimating poverty indicators that are consistent with the country's specific economic and social circumstances. National poverty lines reflect local perceptions of the level and composition of consumption or income needed to be non-poor. The perceived boundary between poor and non-poor typically rises with the average income of a country and thus does not provide a uniform measure for comparing poverty rates across countries. While poverty rates at national poverty lines should not be used for comparing poverty rates across countries, they are appropriate for guiding and monitoring the results of country-specific national poverty reduction strategies.

Almost all national poverty lines in developing economies are anchored to the cost of a food bundle - based on the prevailing national diet of the poor - that provides adequate nutrition for good health and normal activity, plus an allowance for nonfood spending. National poverty lines must be adjusted for inflation between survey years to remain constant in real terms and thus allow for meaningful comparisons of poverty over time. Because diets and consumption baskets change over time, countries periodically recalculate the poverty line based on new survey data. In such cases the new poverty lines should be deflated to obtain comparable poverty estimates from earlier years.

This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. For economies for which the data are from EU-SILC, the reported year is the income reference year, which is the year before the survey year. For all other economies, the year reported is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which data collection started.


IndicatorName: Number of poor at $2.15 a day (2017 PPP) (millions)

Longdefinition: Number of people, in millions, living on less than $2.15 a day at 2017 PPP is calculated by multiplying the poverty rate and the population. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.


IndicatorName: Rural poverty gap at national poverty lines (%)

Longdefinition: Rural poverty gap at national poverty lines is the rural population's mean shortfall from the poverty lines (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall) as a percentage of the poverty lines. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Poverty headcount ratio among the rural population is measured based on national (i.e. country-specific) poverty lines. A country may have a unique national poverty line or separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas, or for different geographic areas to reflect differences in the cost of living or sometimes to reflect differences in diets and consumption baskets.

Poverty estimates at national poverty lines are computed from household survey data collected from nationally representative samples of households. These data must contain sufficiently detailed information to compute a comprehensive estimate of total household income or consumption (including consumption or income from own production), from which it is possible to construct a correctly weighted distribution of per capita consumption or income.

National poverty lines are the benchmark for estimating poverty indicators that are consistent with the country's specific economic and social circumstances. National poverty lines reflect local perceptions of the level and composition of consumption or income needed to be non-poor. The perceived boundary between poor and non-poor typically rises with the average income of a country and thus does not provide a uniform measure for comparing poverty rates across countries. While poverty rates at national poverty lines should not be used for comparing poverty rates across countries, they are appropriate for guiding and monitoring the results of country-specific national poverty reduction strategies.

Almost all national poverty lines are anchored to the cost of a food bundle - based on the prevailing national diet of the poor - that provides adequate nutrition for good health and normal activity, plus an allowance for nonfood spending. National poverty lines must be adjusted for inflation between survey years to remain constant in real terms and thus allow for meaningful comparisons of poverty over time. Because diets and consumption baskets change over time, countries periodically recalculate the poverty line based on new survey data. In such cases the new poverty lines should be deflated to obtain comparable poverty estimates from earlier years. The data is based on the two most recent years for which survey data are available.

Survey year is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which most of the data were collected.


IndicatorName: Rural poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of rural population)

Longdefinition: Rural poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the rural population living below the national poverty lines.


IndicatorName: Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (% of population)

Longdefinition: Poverty headcount ratio at $6.85 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $6.85 a day at 2017 international prices.


IndicatorName: Poverty gap at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) (%)

Longdefinition: Poverty gap at $6.85 a day (2017 PPP) is the mean shortfall in income or consumption from the poverty line $6.85 a day (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall), expressed as a percentage of the poverty line. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.


IndicatorName: Urban poverty gap at national poverty lines (%)

Longdefinition: Urban poverty gap at national poverty lines is the urban population's mean shortfall from the poverty lines (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall) as a percentage of the poverty lines. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology:
Poverty headcount ratio among the urban population is measured based on national (i.e. country-specific) poverty lines. A country may have a unique national poverty line or separate poverty lines for rural and urban areas, or for different geographic areas to reflect differences in the cost of living or sometimes to reflect differences in diets and consumption baskets.

Poverty estimates at national poverty lines are computed from household survey data collected from nationally representative samples of households. These data must contain sufficiently detailed information to compute a comprehensive estimate of total household income or consumption (including consumption or income from own production), from which it is possible to construct a correctly weighted distribution of per capita consumption or income.

National poverty lines are the benchmark for estimating poverty indicators that are consistent with the country's specific economic and social circumstances. National poverty lines reflect local perceptions of the level and composition of consumption or income needed to be non-poor. The perceived boundary between poor and non-poor typically rises with the average income of a country and thus does not provide a uniform measure for comparing poverty rates across countries. While poverty rates at national poverty lines should not be used for comparing poverty rates across countries, they are appropriate for guiding and monitoring the results of country-specific national poverty reduction strategies.

Almost all national poverty lines are anchored to the cost of a food bundle - based on the prevailing national diet of the poor - that provides adequate nutrition for good health and normal activity, plus an allowance for nonfood spending. National poverty lines must be adjusted for inflation between survey years to remain constant in real terms and thus allow for meaningful comparisons of poverty over time. Because diets and consumption baskets change over time, countries periodically recalculate the poverty line based on new survey data. In such cases the new poverty lines should be deflated to obtain comparable poverty estimates from earlier years. The data is based on the two most recent years for which survey data are available.

Survey year is the year in which the underlying household survey data were collected or, when the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the year in which most of the data were collected.


IndicatorName: Urban poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of urban population)

Longdefinition: Urban poverty headcount ratio is the percentage of the urban population living below the national poverty lines.


Developmentrelevance: Reducing the cost of remittance transactions has a direct impact on development by freeing additional resources that, instead of being paid as transaction cost, will remain with the senders and receivers of the flows. Remittance cost is highlighted in Sustainable Development Goal 10. Target 10.c calls for reducing to less than 3 percent the transaction costs of migrant remittances and ensure that in no corridor remittance senders are required to pay more than 5 percent by 2030.

IndicatorName: Average transaction cost of sending remittances to a specific country (%)

Limitationsandexceptions: Remittance service providers (RSPs) are excluded when they do not disclose the exchange rate applied to the transaction

Longdefinition: Average transaction cost of sending remittance to a specific country is the average of the total transaction cost in percentage of the amount sent for sending USD 200 charged by each single remittance service provider (RSP) included in the Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) database to a specific country.

Periodicity: Quarterly (represented as Annual)

Source: World Bank, Remittance Prices Worldwide, available at http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The World Bank calculates and tracks the global average cost for sending remittances following each iteration of Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW). This is intended to provide a tool to track the trend of remittance prices by various policy makers, including measuring progress towards the commitment by the G8 member countries to reduce the cost of remittances by five percentage points over five years (the “5x5 Objective”), as well as the commitment by the G20 member countries to also reduce the global average to 5 percent. The Global Average Total Cost is calculated as the average total cost for sending USD 200 with all remittance service providers (RSPs) worldwide. In other terms, the global average total cost is the simple average of the total cost for sending USD 200 charged by each single RSP included in the RPW database, expressed as the percentage of the amount sent. The regional and national average total costs are calculated using the same methodology used to calculate the Global Average Total Cost. These represent the simple average total cost for sending USD 200 with every single RSP to a specific region of the world (regional), or to a specific country (national). The reference years reflect third quarter data here; for example, data for 2016 refers to data in the third quarter of the year. For all quarterly data, visit http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org.

Topic: Financial Sector: Access


IndicatorName: Average transaction cost of sending remittances from a specific country (%)

Limitationsandexceptions: Remittance service providers (RSPs) are excluded when they do not disclose the exchange rate applied to the transaction.

Longdefinition: Average transaction cost of sending remittance from a specific country is the average of the total transaction cost in percentage of the amount sent for sending USD 200 charged by each single remittance service provider (RSP) included in the Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW) database from a specific country.

Statisticalconceptandmethodology: The World Bank calculates and tracks the global average cost for sending remittances following each iteration of Remittance Prices Worldwide (RPW). This is intended to provide a tool to track the trend of remittance prices by various policy makers, including measuring progress towards the commitment by the G8 member countries to reduce the cost of remittances by five percentage points over five years (the “5x5 Objective”), as well as the commitment by the G20 member countries to also reduce the global average to 5 percent. The Global Average Total Cost is calculated as the average total cost for sending USD 200 with all remittance service providers (RSPs) worldwide. In other terms, the global average total cost is the simple average of the total cost for sending USD 200 charged by each single RSP included in the RPW database, expressed as the percentage of the amount sent. The regional and national average total costs are calculated using the same methodology used to calculate the Global Average Total Cost. These represent the simple average total cost for sending USD 200 with every single RSP from a specific region of the world (regional), or from a specific country (national). The same applies to other averages such as the G8 average, which calculates the average cost of sending USD 200 from the G8 member countries, or the bank average, which represent the average cost of sending USD 200 with a bank worldwide. The reference years reflect third quarter data here; for example, data for 2016 refers to data in the third quarter of the year. For all quarterly data, visit http://remittanceprices.worldbank.org.


Developmentrelevance: The World Bank Group's goal of promoting shared prosperity has been defined as fostering income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the welfare distribution in every country.

Generalcomments: The choice of consumption or income for a country is made according to which welfare aggregate is used to estimate extreme poverty in the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP). The practice adopted by the World Bank for estimating global and regional poverty is, in principle, to use per capita consumption expenditure as the welfare measure wherever available; and to use income as the welfare measure for countries for which consumption is unavailable. However, in some cases data on consumption may be available but are outdated or not shared with the World Bank for recent survey years. In these cases, if data on income are available, income is used. Whether data are for consumption or income per capita is noted in the footnotes. Because household surveys are infrequent in most countries and are not aligned across countries, comparisons across countries or over time should be made with a high degree of caution.

IndicatorName: Survey mean consumption or income per capita, bottom 40% of population (2017 PPP $ per day)

Longdefinition: Mean consumption or income per capita (2017 PPP $ per day) of the bottom 40%, used in calculating the growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the bottom 40% of the population in the income distribution in a country.

Source: World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP) (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).

Topic: Poverty: Shared prosperity


Generalcomments: The choice of consumption or income for a country is made according to which welfare aggregate is used to estimate extreme poverty in PovcalNet. The practice adopted by the World Bank for estimating global and regional poverty is, in principle, to use per capita consumption expenditure as the welfare measure wherever available; and to use income as the welfare measure for countries for which consumption is unavailable. However, in some cases data on consumption may be available but are outdated or not shared with the World Bank for recent survey years. In these cases, if data on income are available, income is used. Whether data are for consumption or income per capita is noted in the footnotes. Because household surveys are infrequent in most countries and are not aligned across countries, comparisons across countries or over time should be made with a high degree of caution.

IndicatorName: Survey mean consumption or income per capita, bottom 40% of population (2005 PPP $ per day)

Longdefinition: Mean consumption or income per capita (2005 PPP $ per day) used in calculating the growth rate in the welfare aggregate of the bottom 40% of the population in the income distribution in a country.

Relatedsourcelinks: World Bank, PovcalNet: an online poverty analysis tool, http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm

Source: World Bank, Global Database of Shared Prosperity (GDSP)  (http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/brief/global-database-of-shared-prosperity).