Cameroon Poverty Assessment 2024 - Working Out of Poverty - Building Resilience and Inclusive Growth for Cameroon’s Future - Policy Overview

Jul 19, 2026

Cameroon’s first official poverty assessment analyzes recent household survey evidence to explain persistent poverty and identify drivers behind limited progress. About four in ten people remain below the national poverty line, with the poor now exceeding 10 million as population growth continues. Despite relatively stable growth, slow job creation prevents gains from reaching the poorest, while conflicts and climate shocks intensify risks. The report evaluates poverty reduction policy options and highlights priorities tied to human capital, agriculture, infrastructure, social assistance, governance, and data access.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages32

Reading Time1 h 21 min

Policy Overview

Cameroon’s growth performance has been too slow to raise living standards

Given slow growth, poverty reduction in Cameroon has languished for 20 years

Cameroon faces a poverty paradox: high potential, low progress

Growth is not reaching the poorest, while urbanization is no longer a force for poverty reduction

Cameroon’s changing labor market is not yet contributing to poverty reduction

Conflict and climate-related shocks pose growing threats to poverty reduction

With the right mix of policies, Cameroon can harness its poverty-reducing potential

Public Disc losure Authorized POLICY OVERVIEW Cameroon Poverty Assessment 2024 Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Working Out of Poverty: Building Resilience and Inclusive Growth for Cameroon’s Future December 2024 Pub lic Disc losure Authorized Cameroon Poverty Assessment 2024 Contents PO1 . Cameroon’s growth performance has been too slow to raise living standards....................... 3 PO2 . Given slow growth, poverty reduction in Cameroon has languished for 20 years ................... 5 PO3 . Cameroon faces a poverty paradox: high potential, low progress ......................................... 6 PO4 . Growth is not reaching the poorest Cameroonians, while urbanization is no longer a force for poverty reduction .............................................................................................. 9 PO5 . Cameroon’s changing labor market is not yet contributing to poverty reduction .................... 13 PO6 . Conflict and climate-related shocks pose growing threats to poverty reduction .................... 17 PO7 . With the right mix of policies, Cameroon can harness its poverty-reducing potential ............ 21 Cameroon’s development challenges are longstanding and well documented, so many policy recommendations are not new ................................................................... 22 Strengthening peace and security is vital for alleviating poverty............................................ 22 Job creation is essential for sustained poverty reduction in Cameroon ................................. 22 Expanding social assistance, investing in digital infrastructure, and enhancing formal identification can help to reduce poverty in Cameroon in the short run ................................ 24 Enhancing decentralization could help tailor policies for Cameroon’s diverse development challenges ........................................................................................ 24 Cameroon's lagging regions still need improvements in three basic building blocks of poverty reduction: human capital, agricultural productivity, and infrastructure ....... 25 Cameroon’s town and cities require fresh policies to address urban poverty ........................ 26 Cameroon’s pathway to poverty reduction will rely on strong governance and continued investments in producing and providing access to good quality data ............. 26 References ............................................................................................................................. 28 Policy Overview Working Out of Poverty: Building Resilience and Inclusive Growth for Cameroon’s Future T his report, Cameroon's first ever official poverty assessment, analyzes the country's latest household survey data and proposes poverty reduction policies that can effectively reduce poverty. About 4 in 10 Cameroonians live below the national poverty line – a situation that has been virtually unchanged over the past two decades. With the population continuing to grow, the number of poor Cameroonians now exceeds 10 million. While economic growth has proved stable, it has been slow, so real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita today is lower than it was in the 1980s. Furthermore, productive jobs are scarce so what growth has been achieved is not reaching the poor and vulnerable. Nevertheless, Cameroon has potential: with favorable geographical conditions, abundant natural resources, rapid urbanization, and a young population with improving human capital outcomes, the country has the opportunity to address its mounting development challenges. Yet urgent policy reform is essential to harness its potential. This report presents the most recent trends in poverty in Cameroon, assessing its key drivers, and proposing countervailing measures. Alongside core poverty and inequality diagnostics, it examines the impact of shocks, human capital, livelihoods, and access

FAQs

What does the assessment say about Cameroon’s current poverty level?

Around four in ten Cameroonians live below the national poverty line, a situation largely unchanged over two decades. With continued population growth, the number of poor now exceeds 10 million.

Why has poverty reduction in Cameroon been slow despite economic growth?

The report links slow poverty reduction to growth that is not fast enough relative to population growth and to limited availability of productive jobs, so gains do not reach the poor and vulnerable.

What major risks does the report identify for future poverty reduction?

It highlights threats from conflict and climate-related shocks that increasingly undermine efforts to reduce poverty.

Jul 19, 2026

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