PAKISTAN is recording two contrasting poverty trends. Between 2018-19 and 2024-25, consumption poverty, which measures whether a household can afford its basic needs, rose from about 22 percent to nearly 29 percent. Over the same period, multidimensional poverty fell from around 21 percent to 16 percent. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) looks beyond what households can afford and measures disadvantages in education, health and living conditions. The two trends, therefore, describe different, but related, aspects of how households are faring.

A study by Research and Development Solutions estimates that around 20 percent of the population remained below the consumption poverty line in both periods, accounting for roughly seven in ten of those........

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