Nearly 63 per cent of Pakistan's population — approximately 161 million people — could not afford the cheapest nutritionally adequate diet in 2025, according to a report published in The News Pakistan. The finding gives Pakistan the highest rate of healthy diet unaffordability in South Asia, even as the country recorded the region's lowest-cost nutritious food basket.

The Scale of the Crisis

The report defines unaffordability as the inability to purchase the minimum combination of grains, pulses, milk, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and other nutritious items after accounting for essential non-food expenses such as housing, transport, and utilities. That two-thirds of a nation cannot clear even this baseline threshold underscores the depth of Pakistan's food security challenge.

Notably, this comes at a moment when global hunger indicators are showing modest improvement. The share of the world's population facing hunger declined to 7.8 per cent in 2025, down from 8.1 per cent in 2024 and 8.6 per cent in 2022 — making Pakistan's trajectory a stark outlier.

Purchasing Power Has Not Recovered

Food affordability remains severely strained in Pakistan despite a moderation in inflation from the peaks recorded in 2023. Analysts cited in the report cautioned that while the pace of price increases has slowed, household purchasing power has not recovered from the sharp erosion caused by the earlier inflation surge.

According to the report, real household incomes fell by nearly 13 per cent after adjusting for inflation. Over the same period, poverty rose from 21.9 per cent to 28.9 per cent, pushing an estimated 25 million additional people below the poverty line.

Dietary Patterns in Sharp Decline

The deterioration in purchasing power is directly visible in what Pakistani households are eating. Consumption of 13 out of 14 key food items declined between the two most recent survey rounds. Per capita monthly consumption of rice fell by nearly 19 per cent, pulses by 26 per cent, and milk by 10 per cent. Combined consumption of mutton, beef, and chicken dropped by approximately 18 per cent.

This compression across virtually every food category signals not a shift in dietary preference but a forced retreat driven by affordability constraints — a pattern economists associate with long-term nutritional damage, particularly for children and women of reproductive age.

South Asia Context

Pakistan's position as the worst performer on healthy diet unaffordability in South Asia is particularly striking given that it also has the region's lowest-cost nutritious food basket. The paradox points to an income and purchasing-power problem rather than a supply or pricing problem alone. Neighbouring India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka — despite their own food security challenges — record lower rates of healthy diet unaffordability, according to the report.

With poverty levels rising and real incomes still suppressed, analysts warn that a sustained recovery in dietary access will require both macroeconomic stabilisation and targeted nutritional support programmes. The trajectory, as of 2025, remains deeply concerning.