Publication: Cameroon Poverty Assessment 2024: Working Out of Poverty: Building Resilience and Inclusive Growth for Cameroon’s Future
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2025-07-28
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2025-07-28
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This report – Cameroon’s first ever official poverty assessment – draws on the country’s latest microdata to suggest policies that can ignite poverty reduction at a pivotal moment. Around 4 in 10 Cameroonians live below the national poverty line – a situation that has changed little for 20 years. Combined with population growth, the number of poor Cameroonians is rising, and now exceeds 10 million people. Growth, while stable, has been slow, with real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita lower today than it was in the 1980s. Productive jobs are scarce, so what little growth is achieved is not reaching the poor and vulnerable. With its geographical advantages, natural capital, rapid urbanization, and a young population with improving human capital outcomes, Cameroon has the potential to address its growing development challenges, but the need for policy reform is urgent. This report provides the latest trends in poverty in Cameroon, assessing its key drivers, and proposing countervailing policies. Alongside core poverty and inequality diagnostics, the report examines the role of shocks, human capital, livelihoods, and access to markets and services in depth. The report draws on the latest microdata collected in Cameroon, including the fifth Enquête Camerounaise Auprès des Ménages (Cameroon Household Survey, ECAM-5) implemented in 2021/22. These household survey data are combined with other innovative data sources, including granular geospatial data. This Executive Summary highlights the poverty assessment’s key findings and outlines the policies that can help Cameroon harness its potential before its development challenges grow too large.
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“World Bank. 2025. Cameroon Poverty Assessment 2024: Working Out of Poverty: Building Resilience and Inclusive Growth for Cameroon’s Future. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43508 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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