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This analytical tool describes two of the most commonly used poverty measures in applied policy works, i.e., the headcount ratio (HR) and the poverty gap (PG) ratio. These are basic poverty indicators used to investigate impacts of public policies on poverty. After providing a conceptual background to HR and PG, this module describes step-by-step procedures and provides numerical examples to calculate these measures. In addition, advantages and shortcomings of these measures are discussed, and their explanatory power is investigated.

• For more information, see also:
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty. The Definition of Poverty. EASYPol Series 004
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty. Absolute Poverty Lines. EASYPol Series 005
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty. Relative Poverty Lines. EASYPol Series 006
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty: Axioms for Poverty Measurement. EASYPol Series 008
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty: Distributional Poverty Measures. EASYPol Series 009
• Impacts of Policies on Poverty. Generalised Poverty Gap Measures. EASYPol Series 010

This paper is part of a FAO Policy series: EASYPol-Resources for policy making (in agriculture, rural development and food security). To find other EASYPol series' resources, go to the Policy Support and Governance website>Resources and type "EASYPol" in the free text search.