Pakistan's poverty rate has risen sharply over the past six years, with nearly 29 per cent of the population now living below the poverty line, as repeated economic shocks, high inflation and weak growth eroded household incomes and consumption, a report has said.
According to an analysis by Dawn -- based on the Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) and the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) -- the country's poverty rate increased to 28.9 per cent in 2024-25 from 21.8 per cent in 2018-19, an increase of seven percentage points.
Rural areas were hit harder than urban centres, with poverty increasing by about eight percentage points in rural Pakistan compared with around six percentage points in urban areas, it added.
The data -- released after a gap of nearly six years -- reflects the cumulative impact of multiple domestic and global crises, including repeated balance-of-payments pressures, the Covid-19 pandemic, elevated inflation, rising commodity prices and prolonged macroeconomic adjustment.
The report also noted that average inflation-adjusted household incomes and consumption declined over two successive survey cycles, indicating that Pakistan has experienced what analysts describe as a 'lost decade' in terms of improvements in living standards.
According to the analysis, the coexistence of positive economic growth with rising poverty suggests that the benefits of growth have largely accrued to higher-income groups, while lower-income households have suffered greater erosion in real incomes and purchasing power.
The report noted that poorer households, which largely depend on wages rather than income from financial or physical assets, were more vulnerable to inflation and repeated economic disruptions.
Meanwhile, wealthier households were better positioned to offset rising prices through ownership of assets such as real estate and financial investments.
The report underscores the challenges facing Pakistan's economy as it seeks to sustain growth while addressing rising poverty and widening inequality, amid continuing geopolitical uncertainties and external economic risks.
--IANS
