DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, September 25. Poverty levels have decreased in both rural and urban areas across all subnational regions of Tajikistan.
Data obtained by Trend from the World Bank (WB) shows that although poverty in cities has historically been more widespread, in recent years it has been declining at a faster rate, leading to a widening gap between poverty levels in cities and rural areas.
Among Tajikistan’s five key regions, the Sughd region and the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO), which are geographically isolated from each other, have seen recent upticks in poverty rates, signaling localized challenges. Despite significant national progress, the Khatlon region and the Districts of Republican Subordination (DRS) continue to experience relatively high poverty levels.
The Khatlon region reduced its poverty rate from 75 percent in 2010 to 31 percent in 2024, while the DRS dropped from 68 percent to 25 percent in the same period.
The GBAO region’s poverty trends are more volatile. After declining from 66.7 percent in 2010 to 26 percent in 2024, the region experienced a sharp increase to 43 percent in 2023, indicating distinct geographic or socioeconomic obstacles that complicate poverty alleviation efforts there.
The World Bank says that these regional disparities highlight the need for targeted policies addressing specific local conditions to sustain and accelerate poverty reduction across Tajikistan.
Tajikistan has reduced its national poverty rate from 56 percent in 2010 to under 20 percent in 2024.
