Poverty in Pakistan has worsened sharply over the past six years, with nearly 27 million more people falling below the poverty line, taking the country's total poor population to around 70 million, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 released on Thursday.
The survey, unveiled ahead of the federal budget, shows that the national poverty rate increased from 21.9 per cent in 2018-19 to 28.9 per cent in 2024-25, reflecting the impact of sustained economic challenges and widening income disparities.
Poverty rose significantly across both rural and urban areas during the period. Rural poverty increased from 28.2 per cent to 36.2 per cent, while urban poverty climbed from 11 per cent to 17.4 per cent.
The province-wise data revealed a deterioration in living conditions across all regions. In Punjab, the poverty rate rose from 16.5 per cent to 23.3 per cent, while Sindh recorded an increase from 24.5 per cent to 32.6 per cent. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa saw poverty rise from 28.7 per cent to 35.3 per cent, and Balochistan from 41.8 per cent to 47 per cent.
Balochistan continued to record the highest poverty incidence among Pakistan's provinces, while Punjab remained the least affected.
According to the survey, the rise in poverty has been driven by a series of prolonged economic shocks, including record-high inflation, currency depreciation, stabilisation measures linked to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), devastating climate-related disasters such as floods, and the fallout of the West Asia conflict.
The report also highlighted growing inequality in the country. Pakistan's national Gini coefficient, a key measure of income inequality, increased from 28.4 in 2018-19 to 32.7 in 2024-25, indicating that the rise in poverty has been accompanied by a widening gap in income distribution.
The survey noted that Pakistan's poverty estimates are calculated using the cost of basic needs approach, which remains the country's standard framework for measuring consumption-based poverty.
The Pakistan Economic Survey is regarded as the government's principal source of economic data and is released annually before the presentation of the federal budget.