One in three of Iraq's population are now living in poverty, a United Nations study has revealed. The shocking figures indicated that up to 5 per cent were in extreme poverty.

|PIC1|Despite the Middle East country being one of the biggest suppliers of oil, many of Iraq's people have reaped very little or no benefit at all, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) explained.

The report singled out the education sector in the country for particular criticism, saying things had not improved since 2003.

The study showed that half the country's population had unsatisfactory access to water supplies, and more than 40 per cent were deprived of good sanitation.

What has become the first major study of living conditions in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, is based on data gathered from 2004. The statistics were prepared by statisticians at the Iraqi Central Organisation for Statistics and Information Technology, tell the BBC.

Iraq has now become a state where just one-third of households live on the equivalent of less than US$70 a week, the study says.

"A country like Iraq which is blessed ... with the largest potential of natural resources [and] the highest quality of human resources, has been brought to its knees by human hands," said UNDP Iraq director Paolo Lembo.

The most desperate conditions were shown to be in the south of Iraq, which is under British control. The region suffered greatly in the 1980s in the Iran-Iraq war and was later the victim of persecution instigated by Saddam Hussein.