Report Finds Central Asian Poverty-Reduction Slows

Rural Kyrgyzstan has one of the highest poverty rates in Central Asia. (Flickr)

A recent World Bank report states that, while poverty rates in Central Asia continue to decline, there has been a visible, concerning fall in the pace of poverty reduction.

According to the World Bank, all Central Asian countries have made significant anti-poverty progress in the early 2000s, with some countries such as Tajikistan (from 70 percent to 25 percent) and Kyrgyzstan (from 70 percent to 20 percent) dropping an average of seven percentage points per year in the first few years of the 2000s. However, since 2009, the average poverty rate drop had decreased to one percent per year in Tajikistan and to nearly zero in Kyrgyzstan. Today, Tajikistan’s poverty rate is projected to be 13 percent, while Kyrgyzstan’s remains steady at 20 percent.

The region’s slowing rate of poverty reduction reflects a number of economic challenges, including a difficult job market and concentrated wealth in small pockets of the countries, the World Bank reports. These poverty rates are, in small part, attributed to youth and women who struggle with unemployment and low incomes.

Moreover, Central Asian poverty maps suggest that poverty levels peak in rural areas that lack connections to urban centers. This disconnect plays a major role in the poverty rates in both Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan: according to the World Bank, poverty rates in these secluded districts reach above 40 percent.

World Bank economist William Seitz said of the disparities in poverty rates, “The highest rates of poverty in the region are concentrated in rural and remote parts of the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and to a lesser extent, Uzbekistan.” He added that poverty is a “country” phenomenon as well as an “urban/rural” one.

According to a World Bank infographic, the cost of living in Central Asia’s more populated and prosperous cities remains higher than the national average.

The report also illustrates that the Central Asian middle-class remains heavily concentrated in and around these major urban growth centers, including Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Tashkent, Dushanbe, and Bishkek.

Addressing the issue of slowing poverty reduction rates, the World Bank recommends that governments increase employment opportunities, grow access to affordable housing in expanding cities, incite faster wage growth, and support “vulnerable groups so they can be more competitive in the labor market.”

According to Lilia Buruncian, World Bank country director for Central Asia, “the good news is that Central Asia continues to make progress towards eliminating poverty.” She added that, “however, poverty reduction is happening much less quickly than before. Rekindling inclusive growth should, therefore, be among the region’s most urgent priorities.”