Microestimates of wealth for all low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

Significance Many critical policy decisions rely on data about the geographic distribution of wealth and poverty, yet only half of all countries have access to adequate data on poverty. This paper creates a complete and publicly available set of microestimates of the distribution of relative poverty and wealth across all 135 low- and middle-income countries. We provide extensive evidence of the accuracy and validity of the estimates and also provide confidence intervals for each microestimate to facilitate responsible downstream use. These methods and maps provide a set of tools to study economic development and growth, guide interventions, monitor and evaluate policies, and track the elimination of poverty worldwide.