- Over 107 m Pakistnis live below the poverty line.
- More than 39 million included in the category of extreme poverty.
- The new figures reflect the updated international thresholds.
Islamabad: 44.7% of the Pakistani population is now considered below the international poverty line of the World Bank, set at $ 4.20 per person per day.
This figure occurs while the World Bank makes a global revision of routine of its poverty line to take into account the evolution of price levels and new data.
As an average country’s lower country, new Pakistan poverty statistics also reveal that the extreme poverty line, now at $ 3 per person per day, has an impact on 16.5% of the population, a substantial increase of 4.9% under the previous reference of $ 2.15. In addition, the higher average income poverty line, established at $ 8.30 per person per day, encompasses a large 88.4% of the country’s population.
According to the new poverty line, more than 107.95 million people from Pakistan live below the poverty line to win less than RS1200 per day. While more than 39.8 million people in the country are included in the extreme poverty category, sources said.
These updated international poverty thresholds are derived from 2021 data on purchasing power parity (PPP) provided by the International Comparison Program (ICP). The World Bank specifies that this ensures that the estimates of poverty remain precise and comparable between nations, the methodology in accordance with updates initiated in 1990.
“Revisions help position Pakistan’s poverty levels in a global context and highlight the importance of continuous efforts to reduce vulnerability and improve resilience,” said the country’s director of the country of Pakistan Najy Benhassine. “The new figures reflect updated international thresholds and improved data from other countries, not a deterioration in living standards.”
Although these international lines are crucial for monitoring global progress and cross-country comparisons, the national poverty line in Pakistan remains unchanged. It continues to serve as a main interior reference for the targeting of policies and programs in the country. The underlying survey on household income and expenses (HIES) 2018/19, which informs national and international estimates, is also consistent.
The updated figures are part of the World Bank’s world poverty update in June 2025, an initiative aimed at improving the precision and relevance of global poverty assessments. A next evaluation of poverty, capital and resilience of the World Bank for Pakistan should offer a more detailed context for these updated estimates, providing a complete analysis of poverty, inequalities and non -monetary results, alongside the main engines of poverty and an essay before for prosperity and resilience for all Pakistanis.
