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Indicator of relative poverty and inequality of the income distribution within a country.

The proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (or consumption) is the share (%) of a country’s population living on less than half of the consumption/income level of the median of the national income/consumption distribution. The indicator is measured using per capita welfare measure of consumption or income. The indicator is calculated by estimating the share of the population in a country living on less than 50% of median of the national distribution of income or consumption, as estimated from survey data. Per capita income or consumption is estimated using total household income or consumption divided by the total household size. Total disposable income or total consumption from both market and nonmarket sources is the desired welfare vector used.

Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB); Ministry of Economic Development (MED)

Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB)

Annual

Percentage (%)

This indicator and similar relative measures are commonly used for poverty measurement in rich countries (including Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) poverty indicators and Eurostat’s indicators of risk of poverty or social exclusion) and are increasingly also used as a complementary measure of inequality and poverty in low- and middle- income countries.

• The indicator is measured using per capita welfare measure of consumption or income. The indicator is calculated by estimating the share of the population in a country living on less than 50% of median of the national distribution of income or consumption, as estimated from survey data.
• Per capita income or consumption is estimated using total household income or consumption divided by the total household size.
• Total disposable income or total consumption from both market and non-market sources is the desired welfare vector used.
•  The estimation relies on the same harmonized welfare vectors (distributions) that are used for 10.1.1 and 1.1.1. Using the same data and closely related methodologies ensures internal consistency across these closely related indicators. The data is available through PovcalNet, the World Bank’s online tool for reporting global poverty and inequality numbers.
•  A threshold set at 50% of the median of the income or consumption is used to derive a headcount rate, similar to how monetary poverty is typically measured. The national median is readily available from the distributional data in PovcalNet. The measurement follows a two-step process of first estimating half of the national median income (or consumption) and then the share of people living below this relative threshold.
• The indicator uses the same data on household income and consumption that is used for monitoring SDG indicators 1.1.1 and 10.1.1, which have been classified as Tier 1 indicators. The methodology and data are similar to that used in measuring international poverty, which has been tested and vetted over many years, including for the purpose of monitoring MDG 1. It is also closely related to a large literature of relative poverty measurement.

The World Bank is working to improve the methodology and disaggregation of poverty and inequality measures by subgroups. Until methodological issues are resolved, disaggregation below the country level will not be addressed.

The indicator is measured using the national distribution per capita measure of consumption or income, as derived from surveys. The indicator is calculated by estimating the share (in percent) of the population living on less than 50% of median of the national distribution of income or consumption. The median is estimate from the same distribution as the indicator is estimated from, thus the 50% of median threshold will vary over time. Per capita income or consumption is estimated using total household income or consumption divided by the total household size.

The indicator is useful for monitoring the level and trends in social inclusion, relative poverty and inequality within a country.

Data is collected with great heterogeneity and ex-post harmonization will always face limitations. Similar surveys may not be strictly comparable because of differences in timing, sampling frames, or the quality and training of enumerators.

Like for poverty rates (SDG 1.1.1) and growth in household incomes across the distribution (SDG 10.1.1), estimates are based on income or consumption data collected in household surveys, led by NSOs.

All the metadata shown in this document was gathered from United Nation Statistics Division. The metadata was extracted from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/.