Monetary poverty affected 29% of the population in 2023

Communiqué National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI)

This is an automated translation of the press release issued in Spanish

In 2023, monetary poverty affected 29.0% of the country's population and increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to 2022 (27.5%). In the urban area it was 26.4%, increasing by 2.3 percentage points compared to the previous year; while in the rural area it was 39.8%, it decreased by 1.3 percentage points. The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), when presenting the document Peru: Evolution of Monetary Poverty 2014-2023, prepared with the results of the National Household Survey (ENAHO), specified that the population in poverty reached 9 million 780 thousand people, a figure higher by 596 thousand people, compared to the year 2022 (9 million 184 thousand people).

Likewise, he announced that the population in a situation of extreme poverty, in the year 2023, was 5.7%, which affected 1 million 922 thousand people, that is, 249 thousand more people than in the year 2022 (1 million 673 a thousand people).

Real income per inhabitant decreased by 1.0% between 2022 and 2023

Real income per inhabitant decreased by 1.0% between 2022 and 2023 (from S/ 1,160 to S/ 1,148 soles). Real income per inhabitant in the rest of the urban area decreased by 3.0%, going from S/ 1,241 to S/ 1,204. However, in Metropolitan Lima and the Constitutional Province of Callao it grew by 0.7% (from S/ 1,323 to S/ 1,332), followed by the rural area by 0.3%, increasing from S/ 699 to S/ 700.

Real monthly expenditure per inhabitant decreased by 0.7% between 2022 and 2023

Real monthly per capita spending was reduced by 0.7%, going from S/ 872 in 2022 to S/ 866 in 2023. In Metropolitan Lima and the Constitutional Province of Callao, real monthly per capita spending was decreased by 0.4% (from S/ 972 to S/ 968), for the years 2022 and 2023, followed by the rest of the urban population by 1.8%, decreasing from S/ 935 to S/ 917. However, it increased in the rural area by 1.4%, going from S/ 561 to S/ 569.

Total and extreme monetary poverty line

The INEI explained that the poverty line is the monetary equivalent of the cost of a basic food and non-food consumption basket, which by 2023, amounts to S/ 446 per month per inhabitant. Thus, for a family with four members, an amount of S/ 1784 would correspond.

The measurement of monetary and extreme poverty is carried out using the expenditure indicator because this variable approximates the quantification of living standards based on what people and households consume, buy, acquire products and/or services. For the year 2023, the basic food basket is S/ 251 and for a family of four members S/ 1,004.

Price evolution of the products that make up the basic food basket

Of the total of 110 main products that make up the basic food basket, 95 registered price increases, seven reduced prices and eight showed no variation. Among the products that presented the greatest price variation between 2022 and 2023, tomato (30.0%), head onion (27.3%), bulk chicken eggs (24.1%) and lemon stood out. (21.4%), at the national level.  

Four departments presented poverty incidence higher than 40%

The departments that had the highest incidence of poverty in 2023 were Cajamarca (44.5%), Loreto (43.5%), Pasco (41.7%) and Puno (41.6%). On the contrary, Ica (6.9%), Moquegua (13.1%), Arequipa (13.9%), Madre de Dios (16.6%) and Lambayeque (17.9%) had a lower incidence.

Extreme poverty affected 5.7% of the country's population

During the year 2023, extreme poverty affected 5.7% of the population, a figure 0.7 percentage points higher compared to the year 2022 (5.0%). Thus, the population in extreme poverty increased by 249,400 people, between the years 2022 and 2023, that is, 1 million 673 thousand people and 1 million 922 thousand people.

In four departments, more than 80% of the population does not have an integrated package of basic services

In the year 2023, access to the integrated package of basic services that includes water, sanitation, electricity, mobile telephony and Internet, is not available for 83.5% of the population of the department of Puno. The same occurs with the departments of Ucayali (83.1%), Loreto (82.8%) and Huancavelica (81.1%). On the other hand, this percentage is lower in the Constitutional Province of Callao (23.7%), Metropolitan Lima (27.5%), Moquegua (32.7%) and Ica (39.7%).  

Monetary vulnerability affects 31.4% of the country's population

During the year 2023, of the total population, 31.4% are at risk of falling into poverty as a result of any change in economic conditions. However, this figure is lower than those registered in 2022 (32.3%).