The population of Peru in a situation of poverty increased to 27.5% in 2022, an increase of 1.6 points compared to 2021, and affected some 9.1 million people, the government reported Thursday.
Extreme poverty also rose in 2022 and went from 4.1% to 5.0%, according to the annual report of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) on the evolution of monetary poverty 2021-2022.
The level of poverty in 2022 still exceeds the indicators prior to the pandemic, when Peru registered 20.2% of poor people in 2019. In the first year of covid-19, the poverty rate reached a record figure of 30.1% in 2020.
According to the INEI, more women than men are poor: “27.8% of the female population and 27.2% of the male population of the country were affected by poverty.”
The level of educational training is also reflected in the situation of poverty. “36.8% of the population in poverty studied up to primary school, followed by 28.3% who studied secondary education and 11.2% reached higher education.”
The report states that “51.7% of households in a situation of poverty have a drainage service through the public network inside the home and in the case of households in extreme poverty, 30.3%.”
Despite the limitations in access to some basic services, the INEI highlights that “access to a mobile phone” is 90.9% among poor households.
In the case of the Internet, 33.0% of the poor can connect to the network.
Regarding food and health conditions, “in 2022, 36.2% of the population had a caloric deficit and 42.4% of the population between 6 and 35 months of age suffered from anemia.”
The official measurement of poverty in Peru is carried out through the indicator of spending in each household, explained the INEI.
The poverty line is measured based on “the monetary equivalent of the (monthly) cost of a basic basket of food and non-food consumption.”
In 2022 that monthly expense was 415 soles (about 112 dollars) per inhabitant in a basic basket. If a person spends less than that figure, they are considered poor.
Extreme poverty included people who spent less than 226 soles a month (about $61) for their food expenses.