Poverty increases in Pakistan by 7% in 2024: World Bank report

ISLAMABAD: A recent World Bank report has negated the government’s tall claims of a thriving economy of Pakistan, ARY News reported on Friday.

PML-N led government had consistently boasted in 2024 about the country’s economic progress, claiming that inflation is under control and commodity prices are decreasing. However, the World Bank’s findings tell a different story.

The report has exposed the harsh reality of poverty in the country, which has increased by 7% in 2024.

World Bank in its findings “Poverty Projections for Pakistan” suggested that in 2024, the poverty rate stood at 25.3 percent, an increase of seven percentage points compared to 2023.

This alarming rise in poverty has resulted in approximately 13 million more people falling into poverty, adding to the already struggling population.

Moreover, the World Bank stated that “In addition to the projected increase in poverty, poor households face disproportionately higher welfare losses and get pushed deeper into poverty”.

“In Pakistan 21.9 percent of the population lived below the national poverty line in 2019. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic, devastating floods in 2022, and a macro-fiscal crisis with record inflation have profoundly impacted economic activity and income-earning opportunities, leading the rise in poverty rate to 24.6 percent” the report added.

Earlier, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics also reported an increase in poverty.

The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) disclosed an alarming increase in the national poverty rate over the past five years, risen from 38.6 percent to 39.5 percent.

As per the PIDE research report, Balochistan is the most affected province with 70 percent of its population living below the poverty line, while, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) a 48 percent of the population faces poverty.

In Sindh, 45 percent of people are living in poverty, while Punjab has a relatively lower rate at 30 percent.