BEIRUT — Poverty in Lebanon has more than tripled in the span of a decade, increasing from 12% in 2012 to 44% in 2022 among the general population, as the Mediterranean country grapples with its worst economic crisis fueled by endemic corruption and a state of political paralysis.
On Thursday the World Bank released its report, “Lebanon Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024: Weathering a Protracted Crisis,” with a survey conducted between December 2022 and May 2023 across the five governorates of Akkar, Beirut, Bekaa, North Lebanon and most of Mount Lebanon. It included 4,200 Lebanese, Syrian and other households, excluding Palestinians living in refugee camps.
The survey found that one out of every three Lebanese nationals lived in poverty in 2022, as the poverty rate among locals increased to 33% that year.
It also noted differences between the various areas in the country, with rapidly escalating poverty in the largely neglected north.
