‘Poverty in Pakistan increased over past 6 years’

Islamabad: 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 govt.