KARACHI: For nearly one in four households in Pakistan, putting adequate food on the table has become a daily struggle, said Pasban Democratic Party PDP chairman Altaf Shakoor here on Sunday.
He said poverty and inflation are now biting hard and according to the latest Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES 2024-25), moderate-to-severe food insecurity has surged to 24.35 percent of households, up from 15.92 in 2018-19 — a relative increase of 53 percent in just six years.
Within this group, severe food insecurity — where skipping meals and reducing portions become recurring realities — has more than doubled, reaching 5.04 percent of households.
He said the crisis is driven not by a national shortage of food, but by an affordability shock.
Families are dedicating a larger share of their budgets to food — 36.72 percent — while consuming less. The poorest income quintile faces a food insecurity rate of 45.9 percent, more than five times higher than the 9 percent rate in the highest quintile.
He said the burden is heaviest in Balochistan (30.3percent) and Sindh (29.4 percent), though every province now has at least one in five households experiencing moderate-to-severe food insecurity.
Shakoor said the broader poverty picture is equally grim.
A World Bank assessment places Pakistan as home to nearly 48 percent of the extremely poor across the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (MENAAP) region.
While roughly 23 percent of the population lives below the USD3.00-per-day line, approximately 49.9 percent falls below the USD4.20 lower-middle-income threshold — meaning nearly half the country remains economically vulnerable even when not classified as extremely poor.
He said multidimensional deprivation tells a similar story: 38.3 percent of Pakistanis face severe deprivations in health, education, and living standards, with an additional 12.9 percent at risk of falling into acute poverty.
He said headline inflation stood at 10.3 percent year-on-year in September 2026, nearly double the 5.8 percent recorded a year earlier, with transport costs surging 27.43 percent and wholesale inflation accelerating to 13.33 percent.
Petrol remains above Rs377 per litre and high-speed diesel above Rs393 per litre, keeping pressure on transport, production, and food distribution costs.
The unemployment rate has climbed to 7.1 percent, the highest in over two decades, with 5.9 million people out of work and youth unemployment at 12.8 percent.
He said the consequences for society and economy are harsh.
The human cost is measurable: over 40 percent of children under five suffer from stunting, approximately 26 million children remain out of school, and 70 million people lack access to basic sanitation.
A shrinking middle class and an expanding underclass weaken institutional trust and constrain long-term growth by limiting human capital development.
He proposed to go for an inflation-indexed social protection. He said the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) currently reaches 12 million households with quarterly cash assistance of Rs14,500, with a proposed increase to Rs18,000 from January 2027. Transfer values must be explicitly indexed to food inflation to prevent further erosion of real benefits.
He said market regulation and supply-side intervention are necessary. Crackdown on hoarding and cartelization in essential commodities should be intensified.
He said reducing energy tariffs for industrial users is essential to stimulate manufacturing and job creation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026