Extreme Poverty Threatens Yemenis

Since the coup by the Iran-align Houthi militias in Yemen in September 2014, 75 percent of the population slid into poverty and 230,000 were killed. The tragedy transformed into the worst humanitarian disaster in the world, according to international reports.

The surge in poverty across Yemen is driven by factors attributed to war, including a breakdown of the economy that has seen USD89 billion in lost economic activity since 2015.

The conflict has disrupted markets and institutions and destroyed social and economic infrastructure. Gross domestic product per capita has plummeted from USD3,577 to USD1,950, a level not seen in Yemen since before 1960.

Yemen is now ranked as the world’s second most unequal in the world in terms of income, surging past 100 other countries in inequality levels in the last five years.

The intensity of poverty has also surged, with Yemen projected by 2022 to have the largest poverty gap—the distance between average income and the poverty line—in the world.

The report identified spikes in malnutrition across the country. Thirty-six percent of the population is malnourished and could reach nearly 50 percent if fighting continues through 2022.

The report contains especially dire projections if the war continues for the next decade. If the fighting continues through 2030, 78 percent of Yemenis will live in extreme poverty, 95 percent will be malnourished and 84 percent of children will be stunted.

According to the World Bank, the war waged by the militias led to the destruction of the Yemeni economy.

It is estimated that more than 40 percent of households have lost their primary income source and find it increasingly difficult to purchase the minimum food requirements. Welfare analysis suggests that poverty has increased to an estimated 71 to 78 percent, with women more severely affected than men, the World Bank added.