Approaches to developing deprivation indices are diverse, and area-based deprivation indices have been proven to be useful in identifying patterns of inequalities in health outcomes. Deprivation can be defined as any disadvantage of an individual or human group, related to the community or society to which the individual or human group belongs, and these disadvantages can be of social or material nature. Social deprivation can be linked to concepts of social fragmentation, and material deprivation can be related to the concept of poverty in terms of the lack of basic goods. These two kinds of deprivation are closely linked to public health and wellbeing. Measuring deprivation requires the identification of two main issues: which indicators to be used to construct a deprivation index, and how to combine these indicators.