Pakistan: Poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line (% of population)

Key figures

Since 1987 it is down 47.8 percentage points from 80.6% in 1987. The World Bank has no value for 24 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2024, Pakistan had the 1st highest value of the 20 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Pakistan in the 2024 ranking

• Honduras — 2nd of 20: 32.3%
• Colombia — 3rd of 20: 30%
• Panama — 4th of 20: 27%

What this measures

The poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to the World Bank's Societal Poverty Line. The Societal Poverty Line is expressed in purchasing power adjusted 2021 U.S. dollars and defined as max($3.00, $1.30 + 0.5*Median). This means that when the national median is sufficiently low, the Societal Poverty line is equivalent to the extreme poverty line, $3.00. For countries with a sufficiently high national median, the Societal Poverty Line grows as countries’ median income grows.

Limitations: Despite progress in the last decade, the challenges of measuring poverty remain. The timeliness, frequency, quality, and comparability of household surveys need to increase substantially, particularly in the poorest countries. The availability and quality of poverty monitoring data remains low in small states, countries with fragile situations, and low-income countries and even some middle-income countries. The low frequency and lack of comparability of the data available in some countries create uncertainty over the magnitude of poverty reduction. Besides the frequency and timeliness of survey data, other data quality issues arise in measuring household living standards.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a population-weighted average.

All 14 values

Poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line (% of population) in nearby economies

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 16.3% (2021)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 21.8% (2023)
• Israel — 23.5% (2022)
• Malta — 12.4% (2023)

More poverty data for Pakistan

• Income share held by second 20% — 12.3% (2024)
• Income share held by third 20% — 16% (2024)
• Income share held by fourth 20% — 21.3% (2024)
• Income share held by highest 20% — 42.2% (2024)
• Income share held by highest 10% — 27.7% (2024)
• Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%) — 7.6% (2024)
• Income share held by lowest 10% — 3.4% (2024)
• Income share held by lowest 20% — 8.2% (2024)
• Poverty headcount ratio at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (% of population) — 23% (2024)
• Poverty gap at $3.00 a day (2021 PPP) (%)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Pakistan's poverty headcount ratio at societal poverty line (% of population)?

32.8% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1987?

It is down 47.8 percentage points from 80.6% in 1987. The highest value was 80.6% in 1987 and the lowest 29% in 2018.

How does Pakistan rank?

1st highest of 20 economies with data for 2024.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SI.POV.SOPO, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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