At least 1.6 million people in Kyrgyzstan are poor

At least 1,600,000 people in Kyrgyzstan (25.6 percent) live at the poverty line today. The National Statistical Committee presented such data.
According to experts of the committee, most of them - 72 percent - live in rural areas.
The National Statistical Committee reckoned such Kyrgyzstanis among the poor, whose income directed to consumption does not exceed 32,093 soms per year, or 2,674 soms per month per capita. The extremely poor are citizens with incomes below 17,471 soms per year, or 1,455 soms per month.
Kyrgyzstan has previously announced numerous state programs to combat poverty. They are supported by international financial institutions.
According to the National Statistical Committee, the recipients of state allowances in 2018 were about 379,000 people, more than 96 percent of whom received allowances as needy families with children under 16.
According to official data, since 2012, poverty in Kyrgyzstan has decreased from 38 to 25.4 percent, extreme poverty - from 4.4 to 0.8 percent.