Peru is a country of paradoxes: its currency, the sol, is one of the most stable in Latin America, it has the highest level of international reserves in the region (29% of the Gross Domestic Product) and, nevertheless, its monetary poverty is increasing. A report prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) has confirmed that in 2022 the spending capacity of Peruvian households has suffered: the level of per capita spending rose from 25.9% to 27.5%, insufficient to purchase a basic basket of food and other products.
Expenditure per inhabitant in Peruvian families increased from 378 soles to 415 soles per month (112 dollars), which is equivalent to 9.7% compared to 2021. The study established that those citizens whose consumption is greater than 415 soles per month ( 112 dollars) are considered “non-poor”. However, by the end of 2022 at least nine million Peruvians (out of 34 million population) could be considered poor, registering an increase of 628,000 compared to 2021. There are 2,694,000 more compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic.
Monetary poverty affected 41.1% of the rural population and 24.1% of those who live in the city, producing increases of 1.4% and 1.8% points, respectively. If the parallel with 2019 is established, the incidence of poverty in the city grew 9.5 percent and in the countryside only 0.3%. The regions on red alert, those whose poverty level exceeds 40%, belong to the mountains, evidencing a problem of historical centralism and inequality: Cajamarca, Huánuco, Puno, Ayacucho and Pasco. One step below, with a poverty level between 30% and 40%, are Loreto, Huancavelica, the Constitutional Province of Callao and Piura.
The report Evolution of Monetary Poverty 2011-2022 It was prepared with the results of the National Household Survey (ENAHO) and sampled 36,848 homes nationwide. It states that “in 2022, extreme poverty reached 5% of the country’s population (1,673,000 Peruvians) and increased by 0.9% compared to 2021; while, when comparing it with the year 2019, it was higher by 2.1 percentage points”. In the case of extreme poverty, the measurement of monthly spending per inhabitant in 2022 was 226 soles (61 dollars).
Another aspect that arouses concern among analysts is the incidence of monetary vulnerability, that is, those who are at risk of being considered poor. 2022 closed with 10,795,000 people balancing on that tightrope, which is equivalent to 32.3% of the population. Although there is a decrease of 2.3% compared to 2021 (34.6%) and 1.7% compared to 2019 (34%), it is still a third of Peruvians.
The document shows that there are slightly more women living in poverty: 27.8% while affected men constitute 27.2%. The scarcity of resources has also affected those under 17 years of age to a greater extent (36.7%) and only 11.2% of people in a state of poverty reached higher education.
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“During the year 2022, 36.2% of the population presented caloric deficit and 42.4% from 6 to 35 months of age suffered from anemia. On the other hand, 31.2% presented health problems and did not receive medical attention”, says the report on food and health. This is coupled with the fact that 50.5% of the population did not have daily access to the water service through the public network, as well as 29.9% did not have the integrated package of water, sanitation and electricity.
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