For millions of Pakistani households, the economy no longer feels like a crisis; it feels like a permanent condition. Prices rise predictably, jobs feel uncertain by default, and savings are treated as a luxury rather than a buffer. Against this lived reality, Pakistan’s latest Consumer Confidence Index presents a paradox policymakers would be unwise to misread. Confidence has not collapsed, but neither has hardship eased. According to the D&B-Gallup Pakistan Consumer Confidence Index for Q1 FY2025-26, overall confidence fell to 86.4 from 96.2 in the previous quarter, a decline of 10.2 per cent. While this still represents an 18.5 per cent improvement compared to the same period last year, when confidence stood at 72.9, direction matters more than arithmetic. Pakistan is not recovering; it is learning how to endure.

The internal structure of the index makes this distinction unavoidable. Current sentiment dropped sharply to 74.7, placing it firmly in extremely pessimistic territory, while expectations about the future softened to 98.2, slipping below the neutral threshold. The gap reveals an economy sustained less by improvement than by hope. People believe tomorrow may be better, not because today is improving, but because prolonged stress........

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