Mexico City: Two million people joined the ranks of the poor in Mexico between 2012 and 2014, official figures showed Thursday, as the poverty rate rose under President Enrique Pena Nieto.

Some 55.3 million people, or 46.2per cent of the population, were living in poverty in the country of almost 120 million people last year, according to the National Development Policy Evaluation Council.

Around 53.3 million people, or 45.5 percent, were considered poor in 2012.

The number of people in extreme poverty fell slightly, however, from 11.5 million to 11.4 million people, or from 9.8 per cent to 9.5per cent of the population, according to the council.

The council attributed the growing poverty rate to a drop in household income, which fell by 3.5 per cent in real terms between 2012 and 2014.

Pena Nieto, who took office in December 2012, has implemented a barrage of economic, education and tax reforms aimed at revitalizing Mexico’s economy. He has also launched an anti-hunger campaign.

Mexico posted disappointing growth of 1.1 per cent in 2013 and 2.1 per cent in 2014, well below government forecasts. The administration has lowered the 2015 growth outlook, blaming the drop in global oil prices.