ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first-ever public survey specifically designed to measure the mismatch between citizen expectations and public resource allocation, was launched on Monday at a Citizens’ Roundtable in Islamabad, convened by PILDAT Consulting.
PILDAT clarified that it facilitated the Citizens’ Roundtable and led stakeholder engagement and communications for the report’s public launch) on findings independently researched by Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR).
Experts from academia, think tanks, the judiciary, the legal profession and the media gathered to dissect its findings.
The National Citizen Survey 2026 was conducted by IPOR through face-to-face, in-home interviews with 5,155 voting-age citizens between 23 August and 5 September 2026, using a four-stage stratified sample representing all four provinces, both rural (60) and urban (40%) areas, and all major age, gender and income groups.
The survey, delivers a blunt verdict: rising electricity and gas prices are the single most-cited concern of Pakistani citizens nationwide — yet federal health spending amounts to a mere 0.1% of the Rs 18.771 trillion national budget, dwarfed 400 times over by the 42.9% swallowed by debt servicing alone.
19% of citizens name rising electricity and gas prices as Pakistan’s number one problem — more than any other issue in the country; 42.9% of the federal budget goes to debt servicing alone — more than defence, health, education, pensions and subsidies combined; 18% of citizens say they were personally asked for a bribe by a government official in the past year — hard evidence behind Pakistan’s low global corruption ranking; 91% say it is difficult to start or run a business in Pakistan today, with taxes named as the single biggest obstacle; Not one public institution surveyed — not Parliament, not the Election Commission, not the FBR — commands the complete trust of a majority of citizens.
FIA and NAB record the highest levels of public confidence among all institutions tested (33% and 23% complete trust respectively), well ahead of Parliament (15%) and the Revenue Department (13%).
Mamoon Bilal, Executive Director of PILDAT Consulting, delivered the opening remarks, while Mr. Tariq Junaid, Executive Director of IPOR, presented a detailed walkthrough of the survey’s methodology and outcomes.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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