Announcing PPI's New Name: Poverty Probability Index >

In 2016, we formed the PPI Alliance to provide the needed funding and governance structure for the PPI’s future as a global standard for household-level poverty measurement. PPI moved its home from that of its incubator, Grameen Foundation, to Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). It’s a little more than one year after that move, and I’m thrilled to share that we have some exciting changes to announce!

First, the PPI will now be known as the Poverty Probability Index. This change, which the Grameen Foundation and IPA agreed was needed at the outset of the transition, better reflects what the tool actually is and does. Although the PPI can be used to measure changes in poverty over time, its uses are much broader than the term ‘Progress’ in the old name implied. We want to avoid any misperception about what the PPI can do and ensure that its branding supports the scaling of its use.

We expect that most people will continue to refer to the tool as simply the PPI. And that, by using the PPI, over 600 organizations around the world can continue to simply and cost-effectively measure their reach to poor households, track changes over time, and use that data to improve their strategies, products, and services for their poor and low-income customers.

Our branding refresh also reflects changes in the methodology behind the scorecard. More will be shared about that shortly when we release our first updated PPI scorecard (Zambia) using the new methodology.  Users can rest assured that they can still continue to use the tool the same way they always have, with some improvements. Furthermore, existing scorecards won’t change, only future updates and PPIs for new countries will use the new methodology.

You’ll notice that our website has moved to www.povertyindex.org and our logo has been updated. Older website and document links should still continue to work, but please let us know if you experience any problems via our help desk or at the email address below.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at ppi@poverty-action.org if you have questions about the new developments, and please look out for the updated Zambia PPI, coming soon!