The poverty rate in Peru may have decreased from 27.6% in 2024 to 25.9% in 2025, according to the latest Peru Situation report prepared by BBVA Research.
"We estimate that monetary poverty would stand at 25.9% in 2025, a reduction of 1.7 percentage points compared with 2024, which would imply that nearly half a million people would have left this situation," the banking institution indicated.
"This result reflects the strong performance of the economy, particularly the labor market and the moderation of inflation, factors that have favored an improvement in households' purchasing power," it added.
BBVA Research's chief economist for Peru, Hugo Perea, explained that inflation was very low last year, which helped, and that urban jobs were created as well.
"We think poverty may have fallen in 2025; in fact, there was some debate because the decline could even have been greater," Perea said.
"Urban poverty was the segment that had remained stagnant. But, indeed, we will see that there was a decline in poverty levels in 2025," he added.
The National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) reported last year that monetary poverty in Peru declined to 27.6% at the end of 2024, after having stood at 29% in 2023.
"However, monetary poverty remains almost six percentage points above the pre-pandemic level (20.2% in 2019), which shows that the recovery is still incomplete," BBVA Research indicated.
"In that regard, the fact that one in four people does not have sufficient income to cover a basic basket (food and non-food) shows that the challenge remains significant," it added.
"If the current pace of reduction is maintained, the country could approach pre-pandemic levels in 2028, although achieving this will require not only growth, but targeted policies aimed at the most vulnerable households," BBVA Research concluded.