MÉRIDA, Yucatán, (December 21, 2021).- In the last three years, the figures for poverty and extreme poverty in Yucatán grew 16.6 percent, according to the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval). In the update published on 2020 figures, it is reported that 17 municipalities are among the extreme poverty indices, all of them indigenous and 25 more in moderate poverty.
Coneval published its 2018-2020 evaluation “Multidimensional Measurement of Poverty in the Municipalities of Mexico, 2020”. There it stands out that the south-central populations of the state have the lowest rates in economic matters, as well as the least favorable conditions in development and living conditions.
The poorest Yucatecan municipalities in the state continue to be indigenous communities: Akil, Teabo, Sotuta, Tunkás, Dzitás, Cenotillo, Chemax, Chichimilá, Chikindzonot, Tixcacalcupul, Cuncunul, Kaua, Uayma, Tinum, Chacsinkín, Tixmehuac and Tadziú.
Meanwhile, another important number are valued with moderate poverty: Celestún, Opichen, Santa Elena, Oxcutzcab, Tekax, Cantamayec, Homún, Huhí, Xocchel, Tizimín, Calotmul, Temozón, Dzilám González, Dzidzantún, Temax, Dzoncahuich, to mention the more noticeable.
The Coneval evaluation specifies that 1.16 million people in the state are living on the poverty line – according to figures from the 2020 Census, Yucatán has a population of 2.3 million inhabitants. The mapping offered by the agency establishes that the municipalities with the lowest poverty conditions are in the perimeter of the city of Mérida, while the economic conditions are reflected more harshly in the south-central part of the state.
The Coneval establishes in its measurement that, in 2020, some 263 thousand Yucatecans live in extreme poverty, being that, in 2018, 147 thousand were reported. This establishes that, in a three-year period, the number of people in extreme poverty rose by 116 thousand.
The same evaluation pointed out that, of the 2,471 municipalities in the country, 1,335 are on the poverty line, 706 in moderate poverty, and 629 in extreme poverty. In Yucatán, there are 42 municipalities in poverty, 25 in moderate poverty, and 17 in an extreme situation.
In national figures, the poverty data in the country grew by almost 2 points of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the case of extreme poverty, the volume of the population that was located in this area increased 1.5 percent in two years. Meanwhile, the volume of non-poor people only decreased by 0.2 percent.
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