Fewer Tongans living in poverty, regardless of measure used, shows SPC–Tonga joint report

Photography: Pacific Community (SPC), Gaëlle Le Gall

Progress on poverty: Tonga has reduced its poverty rate, irrespective of the calculation used, according to researchers from the Pacific Community (SPC) and Tonga. Between one-in-four and one-in-five Tongans experience some degree of poverty—with the most extreme form of poverty eliminated.

Statisticians from SPC and Tonga’s Statistics Department have examined the extent of the country’s poverty reduction from 2015 to 2021 in a new report, ‘Assessing progress towards the reduction of multidimensional, extreme and monetary poverty in the Kingdom of Tonga’.

The two-part, multi-author report is based on insights from Tonga’s 2021 household income and expenditure survey (HIES) funded by the World Bank, and uses three poverty calculation methods: multidimensional, monetary and extreme poverty.

All show the poverty reduction achieved by Tonga over the six-year interval between the two HIES:

• Tonga’s total poverty rate decreased from 27% to 24% between 2015 and 2021, according to the multidimensional method. This is mainly explained by a drop in child poverty from 33% to 28%; adult poverty decreased by two percentage points in the same period.
• 20.6% of Tongans live under the minimum living standard to satisfy their consumption basic needs, according to the monetary method.
• Tonga has succeeded in effectively eradicating the most extreme form of poverty; the estimated prevalence of this is so close to zero that it is possibly measurement error.

Three analyses, positive progress

While all analysis within the report uses Tonga’s 2021 HIES dataset, there are distinct parts within it, with different authorships from Dr Hector Nájera, Dr Viliami Konifelenisi Fifita and Dr Jean-Paul Zoyem. The sponsors of the paper say that reporting on three different measures of poverty in the one document will give a deeper understanding of Tonga’s poverty to readers and decision-makers.

The ‘multidimensional’ poverty figures are based on a participatory approach that asks about essential needs as validated by the population of Tonga. In developing the measure, respondents are first asked to identify what they consider as the essentials of life—for example, for adults, eating at least two meals per day. Then, respondents are asked if they have the mentioned needs—and if not, if the lack is due to insufficient resources.

The monetary poverty figures, on the other hand, are based on a ‘cost of basic needs’ poverty line, an annual, per adult equivalent of T$6,058 (USD $8.69 2017 PPP a day) in Tonga’s case. This method is a way of measuring poverty by calculating the threshold of consumption required to meet minimum food and non-food needs.

Finally, extreme poverty is measured using the World Bank approach of the ‘updated dollar a day’, referring to the international poverty line of $31 per person per month in 1985 prices. Having almost certainly eliminated this extreme form of poverty, the measure is no longer especially useful for Tonga’s planning or policymaking, the authors note.

Poverty snapshot

Geographic differences emerge in the extent of poverty across Tonga. Almost one-third of people in the Eua live in poverty, while around one-fourth of the Vava‘u and Ongo Niua, and one-fifth of the Ha‘apai and Tongatapu populations, are poor.

Within Tongatapu, there is a large difference between rural and urban areas—the poverty rate is 13.3% in urban areas against 21.1% in rural areas. Most (53%) of Tonga’s poor people live in Tongatapu rural areas.

Tongan people are hardly affected by food poverty: 1.0% of the population falls under the food poverty line which is T$2,783 (USD $3.99 2017 PPP a day). This statistic is based on the cost of a food basket providing 2,100 kcal per day.

Inequality in Tonga compares favourably to other Pacific Island countries and territories as well as other upper-middle-income countries in East Asia and the Pacific.

Data for decision-making

Mr Sione Lolohea, Tonga’s Government Statistician, is hopeful that the report will aid further poverty-reduction efforts in his country.

“This report will serve as a catalyst for informed policy discussions, programme development, and collaborative efforts aimed at eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development in Tonga.

“This collaborative endeavour stands as a testament to our shared commitment to positive change, contributing to the United Nations Development Programme pledge to ‘leave no one behind’ by reducing the numbers of those experiencing poverty in any of its forms.”

Read the report: ‘Assessing progress towards the reduction of multidimensional, extreme and monetary poverty in the Kingdom of Tonga’

Contact
Ben Campion, Communications and Engagement Adviser, Statistics for Development Division, SPC | [email protected] 

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