A recent Survey on Poverty, Income, Consumption, and Expenditure suggests that about 2.5 million Zimbabweans are living in poverty and below the World Bank stipulated Poverty Datum Line (PDL).
The poverty datum line in the country is estimated at $165.44 per month from February. It is likely that it is now higher than that considering that the cost of living has been increasing at an unparalleled rate lately. Therefore, most Zimbabweans live at US$1.87 per day instead of the World Bank’s updated international poverty datum line of US$1.90.
According to the survey, Zimbabweans are living in extreme poverty. These statistics are attributed to a sharp increase in the prices of basic commodities. As a result of the inflation, the amount needed by families or individuals rose up by 5.53% from February to March.
Zimbabwe’s inflation rate was recently ranked number two after Venezuela.