Fresh data shared by Gallup Pakistan’s Executive Director, Bilal I. Gilani, points to a slow but worrying change in how Pakistani families spend their money.
Comparing household spending patterns over the last 20 years 2005 2025, the figures suggest that many families may be tightening their food budgets simply to keep the lights on.
According to the latest Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES) 2024 25, the share of food in total household spending has fallen from 43 percent to 37 percent. At first glance, this might seem like progress. But Mr Gilani warns it is anything but.
‘This drop does not mean food has become cheaper or less important,’ he explains. ‘It means households are cutting back.’ In simple terms, families appear to be eating less or buying cheaper, lower-quality food to cope with other rising costs.
This trend raises red flags, especially for children and women, who are most vulnerable to undernutrition.
At the same time, spending on housing and utilities has jumped sharply from 15 percent to 25 percent of the household budget the largest increase across all categories. Electricity and gas bills, rent, and related charges are now swallowing a quarter of what families earn.
‘These are not lifestyle choices,’ Gilani notes. ‘They are fixed, policy driven costs shaped by taxes, administered prices, and the rollback of subsidies.’ In other words, households have little room to maneuver. When bills rise, food is often the first thing to be cut.
Transport and communication expenses have also climbed, reflecting higher fuel prices and the growing need to stay connected. Meanwhile, spending on education, health, and recreation has remained largely flat.
This stability, Gilani argues, hides a deeper problem: rising fixed costs are quietly squeezing investments in human capital and overall quality of life.
The message is clear. Pakistan’s living-cost challenge is no longer just about earning more it is about how public pricing decisions shape household survival strategies.
When families are forced to choose between paying utility bills and putting enough food on the table, the pressure shows up not in protests, but in empty plates.
The government’s release of the first fully digital HIES 2024 25 is a major step forward, offering richer evidence for economic and social planning. It highlights gains in education, internet access, and vaccination. Yet behind these improvements lies a stark reality: for many Pakistani households, daily budgeting has become an exercise in trade-offs, where basic nutrition is slowly losing ground to unavoidable bills.
