In 2023, 62 percent of the population in Mozambique lived in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 1.90 U.S. dollars a day. That corresponded to roughly 21 million people in absolute numbers. By 2025, the extreme poverty rate is projected to decrease to 57 percent.

As of 2021, around 19.5 million people in Mozambique lived in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 1.90 U.S. dollars a day. Some 500 thousand people more were pushed into poverty in comparison to 2020. The headcount was, however, forecast to decrease in the coming years. By 2025, around 17 million Mozambicans are projected to live on a maximum of 1.90 U.S. dollars per day.

Historical dataset showing Mozambique poverty rate by year from 1996 to 2019.

Mozambique poverty rate for 2019 was 96.10%, a 2.5% increase from 2014.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Mozambique poverty rate for 2014 was <strong>93.60%</strong>, a <strong>3.4% decline</strong> from 2008.</li>
<li>Mozambique poverty rate for 2008 was <strong>97.00%</strong>, a <strong>0.5% decline</strong> from 2002.</li>
<li>Mozambique poverty rate for 2002 was <strong>97.50%</strong>, a <strong>0.3% increase</strong> from 1996.</li>
</ul>Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Mozambique sub-national aggregates, % of population under sever poverty conditions (K > 50%). https://ophi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/indicators.png" alt="Indicators"> For more, visit ophi.org.uk

Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Fourth 20% data was reported at 17.400 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 20.100 % for 2008. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Fourth 20% data is updated yearly, averaging 18.450 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20.100 % in 2008 and a record low of 17.400 % in 2014. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Fourth 20% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mozambique – Table MZ.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Poverty rate at $3.2 a day of Mozambique surged by 6.05% from 84.30 % in 2014 to 89.40 % in 2019. Since the 3.11% decline in 2008, poverty rate at $3.2 a day slipped by 1.11% in 2019. Population below $3.1 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $3.1 a day at 2005 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Poverty rate of Mozambique slumped by 8.57% from 69.7 % in 2008 to 63.7 % in 2014. Since the 2.63% dip in 2002, poverty rate sank by 20.21% in 2014. Population below $1.90 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $1.90 a day at 2011 international prices.

Mozambique MZ: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data was reported at 22.200 % in 2008. This records an increase from the previous number of 20.900 % for 2002. Mozambique MZ: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data is updated yearly, averaging 22.200 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2008, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29.900 % in 1996 and a record low of 20.900 % in 2002. Mozambique MZ: Poverty Gap at National Poverty Lines: Rural: % data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mozambique – Table MZ.World Bank: Poverty. Rural poverty gap at national poverty lines is the rural population's mean shortfall from the poverty lines (counting the nonpoor as having zero shortfall) as a percentage of the poverty lines. This measure reflects the depth of poverty as well as its incidence.; ; World Bank, Global Poverty Working Group. Data are compiled from official government sources or are computed by World Bank staff using national (i.e. country–specific) poverty lines.; ; This series only includes estimates that to the best of our knowledge are reasonably comparable over time for a country. Due to differences in estimation methodologies and poverty lines, estimates should not be compared across countries.

Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data was reported at 1.600 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 1.900 % for 2008. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 1.750 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2.100 % in 2002 and a record low of 1.500 % in 1996. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mozambique – Table MZ.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Mozambique has staged a dramatic recovery from the damage of the civil war, improving infrastructure nearly to pre-war levels; reducing poverty from 69 to 54 percent; growing the economy by 8 percent annually between 1996 and 2003; expanding the agricultural, tourism construction and manufacturing sectors; and attracting mega-projects in aluminum smelting, natural gas, and titanium mining, and this tripling exports. Another factor which was a precondition for all of the above is the fact that the country was successful in bringing about reconciliation, ending the civil war, and in managing potential conflicts since that time. Mozambique has just had its third general and presidential election. Nevertheless the country remains poor, infrastructure is inadequate, there are serious unmet education and health needs, and poverty rates remain high. This Memorandum examines the growth-poverty linkage, using a wide variety of data sources, including the recently completed national household survey (2002/3). It has sought to understand the sources of growth in the recent past, to evaluate the prospects for growth in the next decade, to examine the likely implications for poverty, and to outline the policies that will be needed to achieve further growth and poverty reduction. The Country Economic Memorandum also examines the relevance of natural resource management to growth and poverty objectives.

This assessment, reflecting poverty's many dimensions in Mozambique, combines multiple disciplines and diagnostic tools to explore poverty. It combines quantitative and qualitative approaches to understand trends in poverty and the dynamics that shape them. The objective is to support the development and implementation of proper policies that really work by taking poverty's multiple dimensions into account. The first analysis is using multiple quantitative and qualitative indicators on levels and changes in the opportunities and outcomes for households and communities in Mozambique since 1997. The main economic developments, analyzes how changes at the macro and meson level affected household livelihoods, and how households, especially poor households, responded. Agriculture and the private sector, especially labor-intensive activities, many of them small and informal. It can build human capital by improving access to basic public services, especially for the poor, and by increasing the value for money in public spending. And it can improve governance and accountability by getting government closer to its citizens. To achieve these goals, the government will need to increase the value for money in its spending on public services. It will also need to target services for the rural poor and enlist poor communities in identifying needs and delivering those services. And it will need to put in place good tracking systems to link program outputs to targets and outcomes, using frequent high-quality household surveys. Mozambique was an extremely poor country at the time of its elections in 1994, with decimated infrastructure, a weak economy, and fragile institutions. Since then, it has been astonishingly successful at restoring growth and improving welfare. Sustained growth -- driven primarily by investments in physical capital -- reduced monetary poverty from 69 percent of the populace in 1997 to 54 percent in 2003 and the depth and severity of no income poverty even more. Broad-based, labor-intensive private-sector growth was efficient in reducing poverty until 2003 because it was equally distributed. At the same time, investments in social and economic infrastructure extended access to public services, reduced welfare inequalities, and supported the livelihoods of the average Mozambican.

Mozambique Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data was reported at 74.500 % in 2019. This records an increase from the previous number of 64.600 % for 2014. Mozambique Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 74.500 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 82.700 % in 1996 and a record low of 64.600 % in 2014. Mozambique Poverty Headcount Ratio at Societal Poverty Lines: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mozambique – Table MZ.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to the World Bank's Societal Poverty Line. The Societal Poverty Line is expressed in purchasing power adjusted 2017 U.S. dollars and defined as max($2.15, $1.15 + 0.5*Median). This means that when the national median is sufficiently low, the Societal Poverty line is equivalent to the extreme poverty line, $2.15. For countries with a sufficiently high national median, the Societal Poverty Line grows as countries’ median income grows.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

In 2025, over 24.6 million people in Mozambique lived in extreme poverty (with less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day), the highest number within Southern Africa. The country also scored the highest share of its overall population living below the poverty line in the region. On the other hand, Botswana had the lowest number of just over 322,400 people living in impoverished conditions, accounting for 13 percent of the overall population.

In 2025, 70 percent of the population in Mozambique lived in extreme poverty (with less than 2.15 U.S. dollars a day), the highest score recorded in the Southern African region. Conversely, Botswana registered the lowest share, with 13 percent of its population living in destitute conditions.

As of November 2021, 9.4 million people in Mozambique lacked sufficient food for consumption. The number of food-insecure inhabitants decreased by 12 percent compared to the previous month, when it reached 10.7 million people. Overall, the current prevalence of food insecurity in Mozambique was measured at 32 percent of the population.

Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data was reported at 4.200 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.200 % for 2008. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data is updated yearly, averaging 4.700 % from Dec 1996 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5.400 % in 2002 and a record low of 4.000 % in 1996. Mozambique MZ: Income Share Held by Lowest 20% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mozambique – Table MZ.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles. Percentage shares by quintile may not sum to 100 because of rounding.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

Considering the latest available data, Mozambique had the highest share of the population living in extreme poverty among the selected African countries, corresponding to around **** percent in 2019. Malawi, Central African Republic, Niger, and Tanzania followed with approximately ****, ****, ****, and **** percent between 2018 and 2021, respectively. The extreme poverty line was set at **** U.S. dollars a day, taking into consideration Purchasing Power Parities (PPP).

The Mozambique Population-Based Survey (PBS) provides a comprehensive assessment of the current status of agriculture and food security in two provinces, Zambizia and Nampula. These areas were selected based on national estimates that indicate that the incidence of poverty, malnutrition, and stunting among children less than five years of age is disproportionately high. These provinces are adjacent to three of the country's main trade corridors: Nacala (linking Mozambique to Malawi and Zambia), Beira (linking Mozambique to Zimbabwe), and the N1 (key North-South road connecting Nacala and Beira corridors). The PBS was conducted in 2013 with a focus on Household Hunger; Women's Dietary Diversity; Children's Minimum Acceptable Diet;WEAI (Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index);and Household Expenditure in the two provinces.

As of May 2021, 48.12 percent of the population in Maputo, province of Mozambique, lacked access to sufficient food for consumption. The region had the largest prevalence of food insecurity in the country. The situation was also critical in Inhambane, with 42.99 percent of the province's population affected. Overall, Mozambique counted 8.3 million people facing insufficient food consumption in the same period.