The World Bank has disclosed that Lebanon’s poverty rate has more than tripled over the past decade, reaching a worrying 44% of the population.
This alarming statistic comes from a comprehensive survey conducted across several Lebanese provinces including Akkar, Beirut, Bekaa, North Lebanon, and most parts of Mount Lebanon.
According to the latest report titled “Assessment of Poverty and Equity in Lebanon 2024: Overcoming a Prolonged Crisis,” the economic turmoil has significantly deepened inequalities and driven up poverty rates, particularly affecting one in three individuals in these regions in 2022.
The report highlights the urgent need to enhance social safety nets and create job opportunities to alleviate poverty.
The analysis is based on household surveys conducted between December 2022 and May 2023, in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the UNHCR.
The survey included Lebanese, Syrians, and other nationalities, excluding Palestinians in camps and gatherings.
The gathered data encompassed demographics, education, employment, health, expenses, assets, and coping strategies in response to the enduring economic and financial crisis now in its fifth year.
Families have been forced to adopt various survival strategies such as reducing food consumption and non-food expenses and cutting down on healthcare, which could have severe long-term consequences.
To better understand these behavioural changes, the report introduces a new informal poverty line for 2022, as the national poverty line set in 2012 no longer reflects the current consumption patterns or the realities faced by Lebanese families.
The report also documents a stark increase in the monetary poverty rate from 12% in 2012 to 44% in 2022 in the surveyed areas.
It further points out that the poverty rate in North Lebanon has hit 70% in Akkar, where most of the population is engaged in the agriculture and construction sectors.
Moreover, not only has the percentage of impoverished Lebanese citizens tripled in the past decade to 33%, but their poverty severity has also worsened, with the poverty gap rising from 3% in 2012 to 9.4% in 2022. Meanwhile, income inequality among Lebanese has worsened.
As Lebanon’s cash economy grows, families earning in U.S. dollars are maintaining their purchasing power, whereas those unable to access U.S. dollars face increased risks due to rising inflation rates.
Remittances from abroad have become a critical economic lifeline, increasing from 13% of the GDP between 2012 and 2019 to about 30% in 2022, partially due to stagnation in the real GDP.
Moreover, these financial inflows have increased by 20% nominally between 2021 and 2022, playing an increasingly vital role in preventing more people from falling into poverty.