Poverty in Pakistan has increased over the past six years, with the latest estimates suggesting that 28.8 per cent of the population is living in the clutches of poverty, a media report said Friday.
It was stated in the findings of a government committee, led by former Joint Director of Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) Dr G M Arif, which studied poverty estimates in the country.
Though the findings have not been officially launched, English-language daily The News reported, quoting sources, that poverty increased in the last six years.
It reported that poverty, which stood at 21.9 per cent in 2018-19, rose by almost 6.9 per cent to reach 28.8 per cent in 2024-25, showing an increase in all provinces.
“Owing to various factors – including three IMF stabilisation programmes over the past six years, the effects of Covid-19, commodity super-cycles, soaring inflation, lower GDP growth rates, two super floods and abandonment of wheat support prices – poverty levels in Pakistan have surged,” the paper quoted a top official as saying.
The paper reported that the increase was more marked in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as compared to Balochistan, but no data has been provided about the province-wise rise in poverty.
The increase has reversed gains in the past, as the percentage of people living below the poverty line had shown a declining trend from 50.4 per cent in 2005-06 to 21.9 per cent in 2018-19.
When contacted, Chairman of the Poverty Estimation Committee Arif confirmed that the committee submitted its recommendations and report to the government. However, he declined to comment when asked about the exact poverty prevalence rate in Pakistan, the paper said.
Earlier, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal had constituted the 17-member high-powered Poverty Estimation Committee.
He took action following the completion of the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) 2024-25, and in line with the ministry’s mandate to estimate national poverty and inequality figures.
According to official sources, the government calculates poverty using the Cost of Basic Needs (CBN) approach, adjusted by CPI-based inflation, to determine the threshold.
