43% of Iraqis live in absolute poverty – government report
By Kamal al-Basri
Azzaman, May 2, 2007
Poverty is rampant throughout Iraq with more than half the population lacking basic means to survive, a government survey shows.
The survey by the Central Statistical Bureau says that 43 percent of Iraqis suffer from ‘absolute poverty’ and another 11 percent of them live in ‘abject poverty’.
Both terms are measures aid organizations use to quantify poverty in the world and they refer to people below poverty level.
People in absolute poverty lack the necessary food, clothing or shelter to survive and 43 percent of Iraqis now fall into that category, the survey says. People in abject poverty lack a minimum income or consumption level necessary to meet basic needs and 11 percent of Iraqis are in that category, according to the survey.
The study is the result of a nation-wide survey of families across the country and takes into consideration the millions of Iraqis who have been displaced or forced to flee abroad.
The survey is the largest and most comprehensive the bureau has conducted in the past four years. Hundreds of researchers and civil servants working in its offices in Iraq were involved.
