ADB will help address unemployment and widespread poverty through a partnership approach, working closely with the Government and other development partners in selected priority sectors. Poverty is pervasive in Timor-Leste. According to recent poverty assessment surveys, its incidence is about 40%. Poverty in urban areas is about 25% and in rural areas about 44%. Poverty incidence is lowest in the Dili/Baucau districts (14%) and highest in the western districts.
More than 75% of the poor live in rural areas, and their means of livelihood are limited to subsistence and seasonal agriculture. Rural poverty is severe. The lack of data and time series for Timor-Leste makes it difficult to discern trends in relation to progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
| Goals and Targets |
1990 |
1996 |
Latest Year |
| Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger |
| Target 1: Reduce incidence of extreme poverty by half from 1990 to 2015 |
| 1. Proportion of population below US$1 per day (PPP-values) (%) |
- |
- |
20.0 |
(2001) |
| 2. Poverty gap ratio (%) |
2.5 (1993) |
2.3 |
11.9 |
(2001) |
| 3. Share of poorest quintile in national consumption (%) |
- |
- |
7.0 |
(2001) |
| Target 2: Reduce the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by half from 1990 to 2015 |
| 4. Prevalence of child malnutrition (% of children under 5) |
- |
50.6 |
42.6 |
(2003) |
| 5. Proportion of population below minimum level of dietary energy consumption (%) |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| Goal 2. Achieve Universal Primary Education |
| Target 3: Attain 100 percent primary school enrolment by 2015 |
| 6. Net enrollment ratio in: (%) |
| Primary (7-12 years of age) |
65.3 |
71.0 |
75.0 |
(2000/01) |
| Lower secondary (13-15 years of age) |
25.0 |
27.0 |
22.0 |
|
| Upper secondary (16-18 years of age) |
13.5 |
17.9 |
16.0 |
|
| Tertiary (19-24 years of age) |
1.6 (1993) |
2.0 |
- |
|
| 7. Proportion of pupils starting Grade 1 who reach Grade 5 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 8. Literacy rate of 15-24 year olds (%) |
- |
79.0 (1999) |
77.0 |
(2001) |
| Goal 3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women |
| Target 4: Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015 |
| 9. Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%) |
- |
83.0 (1999) |
97.0 |
(2001) |
| 10. Ratio of young literate females to males (% of age group 15-24) |
- |
97.0 (1999) |
96.0 |
(2001) |
| 11. Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector |
19.0 |
- |
- |
- |
| 12. Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament |
- |
- |
25.3 |
(2005) |
| Goal 4. Reduce Child Mortality |
| Target 5: Reduce infant and child mortality by two-thirds from 1990 to 2015 |
| 13. Under-5 mortality rate (per '000 live births) |
160.0 |
145.0 (1995) |
124.0 |
(2003) |
| 14. Infant mortality rate (per '000 live births) |
110.0 |
100.0 (1995) |
87.0 |
(2003) |
| 15. Proportion of 1 year old children immunized against measles |
- |
24.0 (1999) |
60.0 |
(2003) |
| Goal 5. Improve Maternal Health |
| Target 6: Reduce maternal mortality rate by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 |
| 16. Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births) |
800.0 |
850.0 (1995) |
800.0 |
(2002) |
| 17. Births attended by skilled health staff (% of live births) |
16.2 (1993) |
23.4 |
24.0 |
(2002) |
| Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases |
| Target 7: Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the spread of HIV/AIDS |
| 18. HIV prevalence rate among 15-24 year old pregnant women |
- |
- |
<0.1 |
(2000) |
| 19. Contraceptive prevalence rate (% of women aged 15-49) |
16.7 (1993) |
18.7 |
7.0 |
(2001) |
| 20. Number of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Target 8: Have halted by 2015, and begun to reverse, the incidence of malaria and other major diseases |
| 21. Malaria: |
| Prevalence rate (per 100,000 people) |
- |
4,281 (1997) |
16,881 |
(1999) |
| Death rate (per 100,000 people) |
- |
- |
4 |
(2000) |
| 22. Proportion of population <5 in malaria risk areas using effective measures of: |
| Malaria prevention (%), with insecticide-treated bed nets |
- |
- |
8.3 |
(2002) |
| Malaria treatment (%), with fever treated with anti-malarial drugs |
- |
- |
47.0 |
(2002) |
| 23. Tuberculosis (TB): |
| Prevalence rate (per 100,000 people) |
1,674 |
1,849 (1997) |
753 |
(2003) |
| Death rate (per 100,000 people) |
147 |
- |
95 |
(2003) |
| 24. Proportion of TB cases: |
| Detected under DOTS (%) |
- |
- |
53.0 |
(2003) |
| Cured under DOTS (%) |
- |
- |
81.0 |
(2003) |
| Goal 7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability |
| Target 9: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources |
| 25. Forest area (% of total land area) |
36.6 |
- |
34.3 |
(2000) |
| 26. Nationally protected areas (% of total land area) |
- |
- |
- |
|
| 27. GDP per unit of energy use (PPP$ per kg oil equivalent) |
- |
- |
- |
|
| 28. Carbon dioxide emissions (per capita metric tons) |
- |
- |
- |
|
| Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water |
| 29. Access to an improved water source (% of population) |
(1993) |
|
|
|
| Total |
29.1a |
23.9a |
52.0 |
(2002) |
| Urban |
68.1a |
83.6a |
73.0 |
|
| Rural |
26.0a |
18.9a |
51.0 |
|
| Target 11: By 2010, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers |
| 30. Access to improved sanitation (% of population) |
(1993) |
|
|
|
| Total |
32.4b |
45.8 b |
33.0 |
(2002) |
| Urban |
49.2b |
69.2b |
65.0 |
|
| Rural |
31.0b |
43.8b |
30.0 |
|
| 31. Access to secure tenure (slum population as % of urban population [secure tenure index]) |
2.0 |
- |
12.0 |
(2001) |
Regions and Countries 
Top of page
