The World Bank has revised its global poverty measurement standards, leading to a significant increase in Pakistan’s poverty rate—from 39.8% to 44.7%.
This adjustment stems from a new benchmark for lower-middle-income countries, where the poverty threshold has been raised from $3.65 to $4.20 per day. In Pakistan, this means anyone earning less than Rs1,200 a day is now officially considered poor.
Based on this updated criteria, approximately 107.9 million people—or 44.7% of the population—are classified as living in poverty. However, experts emphasize that while the poverty rate has risen due to the revised threshold, actual living conditions have not changed overnight.
The data relies on household income figures from the 2018-19 census, as updated statistics from the most recent census are still pending release.
The World Bank has also adjusted the extreme poverty line, increasing it from $2.15 to $3 per day. Under this definition, about 16.5% of Pakistan’s population—more than 39.8 million people—are living in extreme poverty.
As a lower-middle-income nation, Pakistan falls under the category for which these new poverty lines apply. For upper-middle-income countries, the poverty benchmark has also been revised, from $6.85 to $8.30 per day.
Under this expanded measure, 88.4% of Pakistan’s population earns below the income threshold set for upper-middle-income countries.
