ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Approximately 55 million people in Pakistan are living below the poverty line, which is about 29.5 percent of the Country’s total population.
It was told by the Ministry of Planning Development and Reforms in a written reply submitted to the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate was informed that about 29.5 percent of the population are living below the poverty line in the Country.
The ministry said that approximately 55 million people are living the below poverty line, and the ratio is calculated by using the latest available estimates Household Integrated Economic Survey data (HIES) 2013-14.
The Cost-Of-Basic Needs (CBN) method determines the poverty line by using minimum consumption bundle comprised of food and non-food essential consumables necessary to live.
In this regard, a food poverty line is calculated by taking the average spending on food of households, based on minimum threshold of 2350 level of calorie intake and calculates expenditure on non-food items like shelter, clothing, education, health to obtain a CBN poverty line, which can be regularly updated for inflation, using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to track poverty over time.
This poverty line is translated into Rs 3030 per adult equivalent per month, the ministry said.
