Overview
- The Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26, released in June 2026, reports national poverty rising to 28.9% in 2024-25 after falling to 21.9% in 2018-19, reversing years of progress.
- Public spending on education dropped to Rs962 billion, about 0.8% of GDP, and health spending also fell to roughly 0.8% of GDP, leaving basic school and clinic services underfunded.
- Income inequality widened as the national Gini rose to 32.7, with provincial gaps steepening and Balochistan the worst hit at a 47.0% poverty rate.
- Labour-market strain is evident: roughly 5.9 million people were unemployed and about 0.76–0.8 million Pakistanis left for overseas work in FY2025, with around 530,000 going to Saudi Arabia.
- The report warns heavy reliance on remittances makes households vulnerable to Middle East shocks and says fiscal consolidation, exchange-rate and tariff changes have squeezed real incomes and human-capital investment.