EDITORIAL: A nationwide survey by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, capturing views from citizens, professionals and business stakeholders, offers a sobering snapshot of where the economy stands as 2026 begins.
The findings arrive after a year in which Pakistan clawed its way out of acute crisis and regained a measure of macroeconomic stability.
Yet the survey makes clear that stabilisation, while necessary, has not translated into a sense of shared progress. That gap between indicators and lived experience is precisely why data must sit at the centre of policymaking rather than at its margins.
Just over half of respondents acknowledged improvement in the economy during 2025, citing easing inflation, higher remittances and a more stable external position. Almost as many, however, described the year as turbulent, marked by uneven gains and persistent stress.
Only a small minority felt outcomes exceeded expectations. This is the anatomy of partial recovery: headline numbers improve, but underlying vulnerabilities continue to shape daily life for large segments of the population.
The most consequential message in the survey is about priorities. Respondents are not preoccupied with abstract growth targets. They are focused on jobs, skills and governance.
An overwhelming 84 percent want job creation and human development to take precedence over large infrastructure initiatives.
Youth unemployment ranks among the top anxieties for 2026, alongside political instability. In a country with one of the world’s largest youth bulges, this is not a peripheral concern. It is the defining economic challenge of the decade ahead.
Demographics impose deadlines that policy cannot defer. Each year, hundreds of thousands of young Pakistanis enter the labour force. Too many do so without marketable skills or pathways into formal employment.
When growth fails to absorb them, frustration builds quietly but steadily. The survey does not forecast catastrophe, but it does underline a clear risk: without deliberate intervention, a demographic opportunity can harden into a demographic liability.
The findings also expose a sequencing problem. Stabilisation helped pull the economy back from the brink, and respondents recognise that. But stabilisation alone does not generate social consent.
Only 2.6 percent of respondents consider the economy strong. That assessment reflects lived reality rather than cynicism. Weak agriculture, low investment and limited productivity gains continue to restrict income growth and employment, leaving many households outside the recovery story.
Skills development emerges as the critical bridge between stability and inclusion. Nearly 38 percent of respondents highlighted education and skills as central to tackling youth unemployment, while more than half plan to acquire new digital skills in 2026. This points to an important shift in public understanding.
Employability is increasingly shaped by certification, adaptability and technical competence. Policy frameworks must respond accordingly, aligning education, vocational training and industry demand rather than treating them as disconnected domains.
There is also clear fatigue with repeated policy failure. Respondents called for an end to short-term fixes and recycled approaches that have not delivered durable growth. That frustration is rooted in experience. For decades, development strategies have prioritised visible projects and external financing, often underinvesting in human capital and job creation.
Infrastructure has value, but without parallel investment in skills and productivity, it cannot carry the employment burden Pakistan faces.
Yet the broader lesson is about governance capacity. Surveys of this kind provide more than sentiment; they offer direction. They identify risks early and rank public priorities with clarity.
Ignoring such signals has costs. Youth unemployment, in particular, is not a problem that resolves itself with time. Addressing it requires sustained focus on skills, private investment and credible job pathways.
Pakistan stands at a demographic crossroads. The youth bulge can still become a dividend, but only if policy choices are guided by evidence rather than assumption.
Stabilisation was an essential first step. Turning it into inclusive growth will depend on whether data like this is treated as a warning to act, not a report to shelve.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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