从难民和成本社区调查数据中推导资产型财富指数

Acknowledgements This methodological paper was produced by Sofia Leopold, Arfa Khan and Patrick Brock from the WorldBank-UNHCR Joint Data Center with support and inputs from the UNHCR Global Survey Team. The document benefited from inputs and comments from colleagues, including Ilgi Bozdag, ImaneChaara, Felix Schmieding, Ibrahima Sarr, Steven Ndung’u, and Alessandro Nava. The authors gratefullyacknowledge the contributions of UNHCR country operations, the World Bank-UNHCR Joint DataCenter on Forced Displacement, and government partners in South Sudan, Cameroon, and Pakistanwhere the pilot FDS surveys were realized. Recommended citation: Leopold, S., Khan, A., and Brock, P. (2026).Deriving an asset-based wealth indexfrom refugee and host community survey data. FDS Methodological Paper No. 2. Copenhagen, Denmark:United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Contents Introduction Why a wealth index for refugee survey data?4DHS wealth index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Forced Displacement Survey Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Applying the wealth index to the FDS South Sudan 5 MethodologyCategorical variables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Asset ownership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Land ownership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8Treatment of binary and continuous variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9Joint urban/rural principal component analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Results10Application in other contexts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Recommendations12 References15 AppendicesDescriptive analysis of wealth index variables in FDS South Sudan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Calculation of the Wealth Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Introduction This methodology note presents a standardized and replicable approach for calculating asset-basedwealth indices using UNHCR Forced Displacement Survey (FDS) data. Building on the Demographic andHealth Survey (DHS) Wealth Index as a foundation, it adapts the methodology to displacement contextsand provides practical guidance for its application. The note supports three key goals: generating wealthindex results to complement existing FDS reports, establishing a clear and transparent methodology,and promoting a standardized approach across countries and surveys. It also offers survey datacollection implementation recommendations to promote comparability in the future. Using the 2023 South Sudan FDS as a case study, the note outlines how principal component analysis(PCA) can be applied to largely categorical asset and housing data, including strategies for incorporatingcontinuous variables. An in-depth descriptive analysis of the South Sudan data illustrates how the indexreflects patterns in household living standards and supports meaningful comparisons across displacedand host populations. The overall aim is to provide a robust tool for enhancing socioeconomic analysisin humanitarian settings and aligning FDS outputs with development-oriented data needs. Why a wealth index for refugee surveydata? Efforts to support refugees have traditionally focused on addressing immediate humanitarian needs,such as food, shelter and health. As a result, available data on refugee populations is often gearedtowards short-term crisis response. Long-term development indicators and data collected for nationaldevelopment planning rarely include refugees. To design development interventions that account forthe forcibly displaced, it is crucial to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development data. Thisrequires comparable data on both refugees and host communities that is aligned with internationalstatistical standards and includes indicators beyond immediate humanitarian needs such as assetsownership and housing characteristics. In South Sudan, a country with over 450,000 refugees as of April 2024 and millions of South Sudaneseliving below the poverty line, there are currently no estimates of refugee wealth (UNHCR, 2024). The2024 World Bank Poverty Report indicates that 75.9 per cent of the population lives below the nationalpoverty line and identifies disparities in welfare and food security across the country. Despite betteraccess to services, displaced populations in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) face higherpoverty rates and significant human capital deficits compared to urban residents (World Bank, 2024).However, the report does not provide sufficiently disaggregated data to assess the situation of refugeesin South Sudan. The 2023 Forced Displacement Survey begins to close this gap by providing