Moderate-to-severe food insecurity has reached 24.35 percent of households in Pakistan. This figure represents a significant increase from the 15.92 percent recorded during the 2018-19 period.
Severe food insecurity now affects 5.04 percent of the population. Families currently allocate 36.72 percent of their total budgets to food expenses.
Regional data shows food insecurity in Balochistan stands at 30.3 percent and in Sindh at 29.4 percent. Pakistan currently hosts nearly 48 percent of the extremely poor across the MENAAP region.
Approximately 23 percent of the population lives below the USD3.00-per-day line, and 49.9 percent fall below the USD4.20 lower-middle-income threshold. Health, education, and living standards are severely deprived for 38.3 percent of Pakistanis.
Headline inflation reached 10.3 percent year-on-year in September 2026. Transport costs have surged by 27.43 percent, while wholesale inflation accelerated to 13.33 percent.
Petrol prices remain above Rs377 per litre, and high-speed diesel stays above Rs393 per litre. The unemployment rate climbed to 7.1 percent, leaving 5.9 million people out of work.
Youth unemployment is currently at 12.8 percent. Over 40 percent of children under five suffer from stunting, and approximately 26 million children remain out of school.
Basic sanitation is lacking for 70 million people. The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) currently reaches 12 million households, providing quarterly cash assistance of Rs14,500.
A proposed increase of BISP assistance to Rs18,000 is planned from January 2027. Altaf Shakoor proposed inflation-indexed social protection and stated that market regulation and supply-side intervention are necessary.
Shakoor said reducing energy tariffs for industrial users is essential and called for an intensified crackdown on hoarding and cartelization in essential commodities.
