Between 2019 and 2024, the proportion of Angolans in high lived poverty rose from 35% to 46% — even as the economy returned to growth, deprivation remained at series highs.
Key findings
- The Lived Poverty Index (LPI) rose and stayed elevated: from 1.71 (2019) to 1.99 (2022) and 1.99 (2024), on a 0–4 scale. The share in high poverty grew from 35% to 46%.
- Growth brought no relief: real GDP grew 4.4% in 2024 — the strongest since 2014 — and inflation fell, yet felt deprivation remained at five-year highs.
- Water is the most worsening shortage: going «always» without clean water rose from 16% (2019) to 24% (2024) — one in four Angolans.
- Deprivation has a geography and a class: nearly double in rural areas (65%) vs. urban (36%); drops from 59% among least educated to 24% among university graduates.
- Moxico, Lunda Norte and Uíge lead; Luanda (30%) and Cabinda (31%) record the lowest values.
What this means
Macroeconomic growth alone is not reducing the deprivation Angolans feel. Without policies that reach families directly — water, health, cooking energy, income — and that prioritise rural areas, the interior and the least educated, the GDP rebound risks being a recovery without the recovered.
«Growth is counted in volumes; what has shrunk is counted in quality.»