On August 13, 2025, the official figures from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) on the status of multidimensional poverty in the country were published.
This is the first time that INEGI has assumed responsibility for measuring poverty after the disappearance of the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL), an autonomous body that established the guidelines and criteria for defining poverty and which disappeared after the Constitutional Reform of November 2024.
Overall, in August 2025, INEGI recognized that 38.5 million people in Mexico live in multidimensional poverty and 7 million live in extreme poverty. These figures reflect a decrease of 17.74% and 23.08%, respectively, compared to the previous period (2022).
However, there was confusion and misinformation on social media about the study’s indicators. While the population living in poverty decreased, there were increases in the number of people vulnerable due to social deprivation.
In Verificado, we explain the methodology INEGI is using to measure multidimensional poverty.
Economic well-being and income poverty lines
In a technical section, INEGI explains that its scale measures poverty using two variables: economic well-being and social rights. To be considered in poverty, a person must have an income below the Income Poverty Line (IPL) and lack at least one social right.
The Income Poverty Line is the equivalent of the total monetary value of the food basket plus the basic non-food basket per person per month. Meanwhile, the Extreme Income Poverty Line (EIPL) is the monetary value of the food basket per capita (per person).
The food basket is the set of basic foods a person needs for adequate nutrition, such as corn, beans, rice, eggs, vegetables, among other food products.
The non-food basic basket is the sum of goods and services necessary for a person to live with dignity. For example, products that are part of the non-food basic basket include clothing, transportation expenses, educational services, and housing.
Considering price variations between urban and rural areas, CONEVAL and INEGI distinguish two income-based poverty lines and two extreme income-based poverty lines, depending on the context.
As of March 2025 (the latest available period), the LPI was 4,680.15 pesos per person in urban areas and 3,350.38 pesos per person in rural areas.
Regarding the LPEI (Income and Income Tax), in March 2025 it was 2,379.47 pesos per person in an urban setting and 1,797.48 in a rural setting.
Vulnerability and Poverty Due to Lack of Social Rights
Likewise, INEGI explains that poverty is associated with the inability to exercise social rights, which is why it recognizes six indicators that define the measurement of social vulnerability.
The social rights indicators that INEGI uses are educational backwardness, access to health services, access to social security, quality and space of housing, access to basic housing services, and access to nutritious and quality food.
Each social right has its own measures that determine whether or not a person lives in a situation of vulnerability.
For example, a person is considered to be educationally disadvantaged if they are between 3 and 21 years old and do not attend a formal education center, or if they are over 22 years old and did not complete upper secondary education, or if they were born between 1982 and 1997 and did not finish secondary school, or if they were born before 1982 and did not complete primary school.
Regarding the right to quality housing, a person is considered deprived when: the space has dirt floors, has roofs or walls made of flimsy material (that is, easily destroyed), or if the person lives in overcrowded conditions.
Also, deprivation occurs if the home lacks running water or sewage, lacks electricity, and uses wood or coal stoves or fireplaces to cook or heat food.
A person is deprived of health services if they are not affiliated with an institution that provides health services such as the IMSS (Mexican Social Security Institute), ISSTE (State Social Security Institute), IMSS-Bienestar (Mexican Social Security Institute), or a health insurance plan.
Lack of access to social security manifests itself if there is an employed or unemployed population without direct access to social security, something that can occur if people work in the informal sector without basic legal benefits.
And finally, a person lacks quality food if they live in conditions of food insecurity, meaning they cannot access enough food to lead a healthy life and must adjust the quantity or quality of their food in order to eat.
Difference between vulnerability and poverty
According to multidimensional poverty indicators, for a person to be considered in a situation of poverty, they must have an income below the value of the basic food and non-food basket and suffer from at least one social deprivation.
If a person has an income above the LPI but lives with a social deprivation, they are considered to be in a situation of “vulnerability due to social deprivation.”
Similarly, if a person has all their social rights but receives less than the LPI, they are considered “income vulnerable.”
Regarding extreme poverty, INEGI indicates that a person must earn less than the LPI (Limited Income) and experience at least three social deprivations. If their income is not enough to cover a basic food basket but they have access to more than three social rights, they are in a state of moderate poverty.
Those whose income is greater than the LPI (Limited Income) and whose social rights are met are considered “not poor and not vulnerable.”
In 2024, 24.2% of Mexicans lived in moderate poverty and 5.3% were in moderate poverty.
Likewise, 32.2% reported having at least one social deprivation, 5.8% of the population is in a status of vulnerability due to income, and only 32.5% of citizens are “not poor and not vulnerable.”
Source: verificado
