Poverty in Tonga

“As we embark on this great collective journey, we pledge that no one will be left behind. Recognizing that the dignity of the human person is fundamental, we wish to see the goals and targets met for all nations and peoples and for all segments of society. And we will endeavour to reach the furthest behind first.” (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development)

This report in its entirety reflects the commitment of the Tonga Statistics Department to provide informed information on poverty status by assessing the progress made towards the reduction of multidimensional, extreme and monetary poverty of the people in the Kingdom of Tonga. By reporting on these three different approaches to poverty contained within one report, the Tonga Statistics Department believes that it will give a better understanding of national poverty to the users of this report, thereby contributing to the pledge of leaving no one behind by reducing those experiencing poverty in any of its forms.

While the analysis within this report uses the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2021 dataset, there are two distinct parts within.

Part 1 reports in-depth on Multidimension Poverty using the Consensual Deprivation Approach, and provides the multidimensional poverty line which is also Tonga’s national poverty line.

On the other hand, Part 2 reports in-depth on Income Monetary Poverty and Living standard Inequality using the Cost of Basic Needs approach for a Living methodology and provides the cost of basic needs to define the poverty line.