Pakistan’s poverty reduction has stalled amid economic shocks: WB

Pakistan's sharp decline in poverty has stalled in recent years due to economic shocks and a lack of structural reforms, the World Bank said on Tuesday.

The international lender said that between 2001 and 2015, a wave of urbanisation helped reduce the national poverty rate from 64% to 22% by 2019, as rural workers moved into informal urban jobs in sectors like transport, construction and trade.

However, that progress has since slowed, with poverty rising to 25% by 2024.

"The growth model that supported initial poverty reduction has proven insufficient to sustain progress," said a World Bank study. "Pakistan's once-promising poverty reduction trajectory has come to a troubling halt, reversing years of progress."

The report cited numerous shocks — including the COVID-19 pandemic, global