Pakistan Rejects World Bank’s ‘Poorest’ Claim

Meanwhile, the federal administration has challenged the World Bank's new poverty figures, saying Pakistan's inclusion in the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (MENAAP) region has distorted regional poverty comparisons and produced the country's poverty share look larger.

Key points

• Almost Half of Region's Poorest Residents Live in Pakistan: World Bank.
• The comments followed the World Bank's October 2026 economic update.
• The report additionally states Pakistan accounts for approximately 48 percent of individuals living below the $3-a-day poverty line throughout MENAAP.
• While its removal would additionally affect South Asia's aggregate figures, he remarked Pakistan's substantial population and poverty figures would have a significant effect on MENAAP's regional totals.
• While the inclusion of Pakistan affects the region's aggregate poverty figures, that does not explain the growth in Pakistan's own poverty rate.

Adviser to the finance minister Khurram Schehzad remarked World Bank's decision to move Pakistan from its South Asia reporting region to MENAAP was an administrative and statistical reclassification that changed the composition of regional figures not Pakistan's geographical identity or income classification. Almost Half of Region's Poorest Residents Live in Pakistan: World Bank.

Schehzad argued that regional poverty rates can change when countries are continued to or removed from a statistical group, even if poverty levels within individual countries remain unchanged.

Schehzad illustrated the argument with a hypothetical example in which adding a country with a higher poverty rate to a region would growth the region's overall rate without any immediate change in conditions in either country.

He remarked comparisons should instead rely on country-level data using the same poverty threshold and reference year.

For context, the comments followed the World Bank's October 2026 economic update. It remarked Pakistan accounts for almost half of the individuals living in extreme poverty throughout MENAAP. Nevertheless, the World Bank's report does not attribute Pakistan's rising poverty rate simply to its new regional classification.

It notes Pakistan's poverty rate climbed by 6.4 percentage points at the $3-a-day poverty line and by 3.2 percentage points at the $4.20-a-day line between fiscal years 2018-19 and 2024-25.

For context, the bank links the growth to the COVID-19 pandemic, the devastating 2022 floods, high inflation, currency depreciation and prolonged economic adjustment that weakened household incomes and employment opportunities. Court Temporarily Suspends NEPRA Ruling Against K-Electric.

For context, the report additionally states Pakistan accounts for approximately 48 percent of individuals living below the $3-a-day poverty line throughout MENAAP.

While the inclusion of Pakistan affects the region's aggregate poverty figures, that does not explain the growth in Pakistan's own poverty rate. The country-level figures applied by the lender compare poverty within Pakistan over time, rather than merely comparing the newly formed regional group with the former one. Stay Connected with ProPakistani.

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For now, pakistan Rejects World Bank's 'Poorest' Claim remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.