ISLAMABAD (Monitoring Desk) — Pakistan’s hard-won progress in reducing poverty is reversing, according to a new World Bank report released on Tuesday.
The report, “Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity: Pakistan’s Poverty, Equity and Resilience Assessment,” is the Bank’s first in-depth review of poverty and welfare trends in Pakistan since the early 2000s. It found that after declining from 64.3 percent in 2001-02 to 21.9 percent in 2018-19, the national poverty rate has begun to climb again since 2020.
The World Bank said this reversal is driven by compounding shocks — COVID-19, inflation, floods, and macroeconomic stress — as well as Pakistan’s consumption-driven growth model reaching its limits.
The report highlights alarming social indicators:
- 40 percent of children are stunted, while one in four primary-school-aged children remain out of school.
- Among those in school, three-quarters lack basic reading comprehension.
- Over 85 percent of jobs are informal, with women and youth largely excluded from the labour force.
- Only half of households had safe drinking water in 2018, and nearly one-third lacked safe sanitation.
It also notes persistent inequality: rural poverty remains twice as high as urban poverty, and many disadvantaged districts have seen little progress for decades.
“Reforms that expand access to quality services, protect households from shocks, and create better jobs — especially for the bottom 40 percent — are essential to break cycles of poverty and deliver durable, inclusive growth,” said Christina Wieser, Senior Economist at the World Bank and one of the lead authors of the report.
World Bank Country Director for Pakistan Bolormaa Amgaabazar stressed the urgency of reform.
“It will be critical to protect Pakistan’s hard-won poverty gains while accelerating reforms that expand jobs and opportunities — especially for women and young people.”
The Bank has pledged $20 billion over the next decade under its Country Partnership Framework (CPF) to support inclusive and sustainable development.
But the new report makes clear: without bold, people-centred reforms, Pakistan risks sliding deeper into crisis as poverty once again takes hold.
