Poverty climbs back to 28.9%

Pakistan’s poverty rate reached 28.9% in 2024-25, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said, reversing the decline recorded up to 2018-19. The government is considering revising its Multidimensional Poverty Index with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, adding measures such as climate vulnerability and barriers to opportunity. Officials are also exploring analysis of poverty across political constituencies, using data from the 2023 census.

The updated national measure is expected to use the Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement Survey 2026-27, while constituency-level findings could be released next year. Iqbal said weak growth, political instability, policy changes and climate shocks had undermined earlier progress, and warned that development spending had not kept pace with population and needs. The federal Public Sector Development Programme allocation for 2026-27 is approximately Rs1 trillion, close to its nominal level in 2017-18, according to the minister.