Islamabad, June 5, 2025: In a significant recalibration of global poverty standards, the World Bank has revised its income-based poverty benchmarks, revealing that 44.7% of Pakistan’s population now falls below the poverty line. The updated metrics also classify nearly 40 million Pakistanis as living in extreme poverty.
The revised poverty threshold for lower-middle-income countries, including Pakistan, has been increased from $3.65 to $4.20 per day. Under this new criterion, approximately 108.95 million Pakistanis—those earning less than Rs1,200 per day—are now officially considered poor.
Previously, Pakistan’s poverty rate stood at 39.8%, but the new benchmark offers a more accurate reflection of current economic hardships and cost-of-living pressures in developing economies. The World Bank clarified that the updated thresholds do not signify a deterioration in living standards, but rather a methodological adjustment to better capture economic vulnerability.
In addition to general poverty, the World Bank has redefined extreme poverty as living on less than $3.00 per day (up from $2.15). Under this measure, 16.5% of Pakistan’s population—around 39.8 million people—are now classified as living in extreme hardship.
The report highlights a key constraint: the absence of updated population data. Due to delays in releasing the latest national census, the World Bank’s poverty estimates are based on 2018–19 household survey data, which may not fully reflect the current situation. Analysts caution that actual poverty figures could be even higher today.
Pakistan remains classified as a lower-middle-income country, but the broader assessment shows widespread economic precarity. Under the upper-middle-income poverty line of $8.30 per day (recently increased from $6.85), an alarming 88.4% of Pakistan’s population earns less, underscoring the severity of income disparities and limited economic resilience.
The new global standards also include the following revised benchmarks:
- Low-income countries: $3.00/day (up from $2.15)
- Lower-middle-income countries (like Pakistan): $4.20/day (up from $3.65)
- Upper-middle-income countries: $8.30/day (up from $6.85)
This revision comes at a time when Pakistan is grappling with high inflation, economic slowdown, and fiscal instability—factors that continue to erode household incomes and living standards.
