Overview

• Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity, released Tuesday, analyzes 25 years of data and finds the long decline in poverty reversed after 2020 due to COVID-19, inflation, floods and macroeconomic stress.
• WB Country Director Bolormaa Amgaabazar said poverty increased from 18.3% in 2022 to an estimated 25.3% in 2024–25, with projections based on micro-simulation pending new HIES 2024–25 survey results.
• Past gains came largely from shifts into low-quality service work, yet over 85% of jobs remain informal and women and youth are largely excluded from the labor force, with incomes rising only 2–3% from 2011 to 2021.
• Human capital and service gaps remain severe, including roughly 40% child stunting, one-quarter of primary-aged children out of school, weak foundational learning, limited safe drinking water and widespread lack of safe sanitation.
• The Bank outlines four priorities: invest in people, places and opportunities; make safety nets more inclusive and shock-responsive; adopt progressive fiscal measures including phasing out inefficient subsidies; and strengthen timely data systems.