More than 20 percent Nepalis live under poverty line

KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 13:  A total of 20.27 percent of Nepalis are currently living under the poverty line. The figure is less by 4.93 percentage points compared to 12 years ago. This was revealed by a report entitled ‘Nepal Living Standards Survey (NLSS)-IV’ unveiled by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday.

Considering the population size of 29,164,000, a total of 5.911 million people have been living below the poverty line. Among the seven provinces,  Sudurpashchim has the highest prevalence of poverty at 34 per cent.  It is followed by Karnali at 26.69 percent, Lumbini at 24.35 percent and Madhesh at 24.35 percent. Similarly, the incidence of poverty in Koshi stands at 17.19 per cent and that of Bagmati is 12.59 percent.  At 11.88 percent, Gandaki has the lowest prevalence of poverty.

According to the report, 24.66 percent of the people living in rural areas are under the poverty line, while 18.34 per cent of people in urban areas are poor.