COMCEC Poverty Outlook 2019
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Concluding Remarks
There is a significant level of extreme poverty in the OIC Member Countries with more than 240
million people suffering from poverty. Poverty headcount ratios of the member countries differ
from zero percent to almost 67 percent. Likewise, non-monetary poverty indicators also vary
across the OICMember Countries. As non-monetary indicators, Human Development Index values
of the OIC Member Countries are between 0.863 and 0.354, Multidimensional Poverty Index
values are between zero and 0.59 among the countries for which the MPI is calculated, and Global
Hunger Index values are between zero and 45.4.
Aiming to provide an overview of poverty status in the OIC Member Countries, this report
elaborates on monetary and non-monetary poverty, with a special focus on human development
progress in the OIC Member Countries.
The OICMember Countries do not form a homogenous group in terms of poverty. While 7member
countries are in high income group, 16 are in upper-middle income, 17 are in lower-middle
income, and 17 are in low income group. High income OIC Countries have GDP per capita (Current
international PPP) levels which are above $41,435. In the upper-middle income OIC Countries
GDP per capita levels have a diverse pattern, ranging from $8,569 to $31,698, and all the countries
in this group have low or moderate GHI values except Iraq which is in serious situation. 12 out of
16 upper-middle OIC income countries are in high human development category. On the other
hand, in these countries the population living inmultidimensional poverty exceeds the population
living in income poverty. 11 out of 17 countries in lower middle income group have GDP per capita
levels which are lower than $6,000. On the other hand, poverty rates in this group display a
diverse picture. Indeed, poverty rate ranges from 0.3 percent to 53.5 percent. Lower-middle
income OIC countries can be classified under high, medium or low human development
categories. Multidimensional poverty situation is more severe than monetary poverty situation in
these countries, since in almost half of the lower-middle income countries, more than 40 percent
of the population is multi-dimensionally poor.
Regarding low income OIC Member Countries, both monetary and non-monetary poverty
indicators are striking. GDP per capita (Current international PPP) levels are less than $ 3,000 in
this group except Tajikistan (3444$), and poverty headcount ratios are above 35 percent in at
least 11 countries. All countries in this group can be classified as low-income food-deficit country.
They all have also serious or alarming hunger situation. Moreover, all low income OIC countries
are classified under low human development category in the ranking of human development
index, except Tajikistan which is in the Medium Human Development category. Multidimensional
poverty rate in this group is higher than 45 percent, except Tajikistan.
Regarding human development progress, the OIC experienced an improvement in HDI level.
Between 1990 and 2017 the average HDI level of the OIC rose from 0.500 to 0.632. However, it
remained significantly below the OECD and world average. Moreover, the gap between the OIC
and developing countries has enlarged in the last 27 years from0.010 to 0.049 points. This implies
the human development progress in the OIC was slower than that of in developing countries.
Furthermore, the new development agenda, namely the SDGs, will have significant implication for
all countries. The implementation of the SDGs will also have an important place in the OIC
development agenda. In line with the global development agenda, the OIC countries and
institutions have been exerting efforts for alleviating poverty in the Member Countries through
several programs such as ISFD, SPDA and OIC-VET.