Official estimates based on the HIES 2024-25 place Pakistan’s poverty incidence at 28.9%. In contrast, SPDC’s analysis reveals a far higher rate of 43.5%, driven by methodological refinements and highlighting a disproportionate rise in urban poverty. This policy brief summarizes the findings from SPDC’s report entitled Empirical Evidence of Upsurge in the Poverty Numbers: Pakistan, 2025 Scenario, framing poverty as not only a rural challenge but an intensifying urban crisis with serious fiscal and social implications.
