A World Bank report has found 20 to 40 percent of households in the Pacific are living in hardship, unable to meet their basic needs of food, housing, clothing, fuel and medicine.
The report, Hardship and Vulnerability in the Pacific Island Countries, looks at issues being faced in the region and recommends how governments can best deal with them.
The World Bank economist in charge of the report, Melissa Adelman, says Papua New Guinea has the highest percentage of households living in hardship, at 40 percent.
She says Pacific nations are vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks, as a result of countries' small size, geographical isolation and high exposure to natural disasters.
"Households in the Pacific are uniquely vulnerable to a whole range of shocks. Of the top 20 countries in terms of losses of the percentage of GDP due to natural disasters, 8 of those countries are Pacific Island countries."
Melissa Adelman says the Pacific is also facing a growing threat of non-communicable diseases, which are exceedingly expensive to treat and incur long-term disability costs for households.
