World Bank says 107 million Pakistanis are below poverty line

The World Bank has reported that 44.7% of Pakistan’s population — about 107.95 million people — are living below the poverty line.

This increase is due to a new global poverty scale introduced by the World Bank. Now, anyone in lower-middle-income countries like Pakistan who earns less than $4.20 (about Rs1,200) per day is considered poor. Previously, the poverty line was $3.65 per day, which showed a poverty rate of 39.8% in Pakistan.

The World Bank clarified that this change in method does not affect the actual standard of living of the people — it’s just a new way to measure poverty.

The report also highlights that Pakistan has not conducted a new population census, and the latest poverty estimates are based on old data from 2018-19.

To measure extreme poverty, the World Bank has set the income threshold at $3 per day. Based on this, 16.5% of Pakistan’s population — or about 39.8 million people — live in extreme poverty.

Pakistan falls under the category of lower-middle-income countries. For low-income countries, the poverty line has been revised from $2.15 to $3 per day, while for upper-middle-income countries, it’s been increased from $6.85 to $8.30 per day. Under this wider scale, 88.4% of Pakistanis fall below the upper-middle-income poverty line.

These figures show a serious challenge for the country in tackling poverty and improving the living standards of its people.

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