After years of progress, Pakistan sees poverty rise again as World Bank urges people‑centred reforms

Pakistan’s decades-long progress in poverty reduction has halted and reversed since 2020, as compounding shocks—including COVID-19, inflation, floods, and economic stress—have exposed the limits of a consumption-driven growth model, according to a new World Bank report that urged sustained, people-centred reforms to protect vulnerable households and restore momentum. According to the World Bank report titled Reclaiming Momentum Towards Prosperity, Pakistan’s once-promising poverty reduction trajectory has come to a troubling halt, reversing years of hard-fought gains. “After dramatically reducing poverty from 64.3% in 2001 to 21.9% in 2018—declining by 3 percentage points annually until 2015 before slowing to less than 1 percentage point per year—recent compounding shocks have pushed poverty rates back up to a projected 25.3% by 2023/24,” the report said.