World Bank raises poverty threshold, reveals 44.7% of Pakistanis now living in poverty

The World Bank has revised its global poverty assessment criteria, resulting in a significant increase in Pakistan’s reported poverty rate—from 39.8% to 44.7%.

Under the updated framework, individuals earning less than $4.20 per day are now classified as poor in lower-middle-income countries like Pakistan. This marks a shift from the previous poverty line of $3.65 per day.

Based on this new standard, approximately 107.95 million Pakistanis are considered to be living in poverty. While the method of calculation has changed, officials emphasized that the population’s actual living conditions remain the same—the difference lies in the new measurement.

The World Bank also introduced a new benchmark for extreme poverty, setting it at $3 per day. By this measure, around 16.5% of Pakistan’s population—roughly 39.8 million people—fall into the extreme poverty category.

Due to delays in the release of Pakistan’s latest census data, the analysis relies on figures from 2018–2019.

The revised classification also includes an upper-middle-income poverty threshold of $8.30 per day, under which 88.4% of Pakistanis fall, further highlighting the country’s deepening economic challenges and the pressures on low-income households.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}