43% of Iraqis live in absolute poverty – Government report: Another 11% live in abject poverty

[Jcrowley]

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.

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