Amman, Jordan ? One-third of Iraqis live in poverty, according to a new study released under U.N. auspices Sunday, dire findings for a nation that enjoyed widespread prosperity less than three decades ago.

The report, produced by a division of the Iraqi government and the United Nations Development Program, examined access to, and the quality of, a variety of basic needs, including water, electricity, sanitation, health care, housing, roads and employment.

It found that by 2004, Iraqi living standards had deteriorated considerably compared with the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the area of access to, and quality of, water, electricity and sanitation, as well as employment, income and asset ownership. Damaged or dangerous housing conditions and educational access and quality also were found to be significant areas of deprivation.

A subtext to the report is how much the eroding conditions are contributing to Iraq’s civil war. Although the report made no official findings on the subject, a top U.N. official in Amman said Sunday that poverty and deprivation offer “a very fertile ground to recruitment” for militant activity.

“When you are jobless, when you don’t have electricity and water, you become more vulnerable to being recruited by extremist groups,” Paolo Lembo, the director of the U.N. Development Program in Iraq, said in an interview. “My personal opinion is, yes, it is a contributing factor.”

The survey was based on data collected in 2004 as part of a survey of Iraqi living conditions, conducted by a division of Iraq’s Ministry for Planning and Development and the United Nations. In addition to the third of Iraqis living in poverty, it found that 5 percent of the population was living in extreme poverty.

Although the data is 3 years old, and does not capture the continued deterioration in living standards since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, human-rights officials say the report is useful because it is the first comprehensive study of poverty and deprivation in Iraq of its kind, and creates a baseline for future examinations.

Although living standards began to decline under the decades-long leadership of Saddam Hussein, through two wars and crippling economic sanctions that followed, the report also takes direct aim at economic policies been put in place in Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The policies, which reflect U.S. free-market priorities, dismantled state-run enterprises that employed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and ended subsidies once received by individuals and families. They presented Iraqis with wrenching change, leading to high unemployment and frustration.

The report found Iraq’s damaged infrastructure to be the single largest factor in creating poor living conditions. It found that 85 percent of households lacked a stable source of electricity, with weekly and even daily outages, cutting into other basic needs. Nearly 70 percent of households struggled with disposing of garbage, and more than 40 percent were deprived of healthy sanitation facilities.

Among health concerns, deprivation levels were seen as a factor in malnourishment.

Residents in the country’s mostly Shiite south were found to suffer from the greatest amount of deprivation, while Baghdad and northern Iraq had the highest living standards. Deprivation levels were three times higher in rural areas than urban areas.

The report’s authors urged officials in charge of Iraq’s reconstruction to slow efforts to privatize the economy and better help residents cope with the change. “It’s not a criticism to anyone, it’s a reality we must address,” Lembo said.