Poverty level decreases, but not in Toledo

In another set of statistics, a recent study indicates that while the incidence of poverty in Belize remains unacceptably high, some progress is being made. The 2002 measurement survey on living standards indicates that ten point eight percent of the population is very poor or indigent, while thirty-three point five percent are merely poor. The 2002 survey is a follow up to one done in 1995 and 96. While the methodology of the two studies differs, when the 1995 criteria were applied to the 2002 data, it showed a decrease in the poverty level from thirty-three percent in 1995 to twenty-five point seven percent in 2002. The one district where poverty actually increased, however, is Toledo, where the 2002 poverty rate comes in at seventy-nine percent, making it the nation’s most economically depressed area.