The 2023 provincial census reported relatively low poverty rates in Punjab.2224 Based on the ‘cost of basic needs approach’,2225 the estimated incidence of poverty in urban Punjab increased from 8.8 % in 2018-2019 to 15.4 % in 2024-2025.2226
Regarding its ‘overall vulnerability’2227 the DVIP ranks Lahore among the five least vulnerable of 129 Pakistani districts.2228 Lahore faces a shortage of available housing, which is felt most sharply by the large urban poor population.2229 Dawn reports of hundreds of homeless people, including children and elderly, sleeping on roadsides and pavements in Lahore. Among the homeless are wage workers who have migrated to Lahore in search of work as well as those living in chronic poverty.2230 In July 2025, Pakistan Today reported that almost 1 700 homeless persons had died in Lahore within the previous three years.2231
- 2224
Pakistan, PBS, 7th Population & Housing Census 2023 – Provincial Census Report Punjab, n.d., url, p. 44
- 2225
The ‘cost of basic needs approach’ defines the monthly minimum amount necessary for a person ‘to meet basic food and non-food needs’ in Pakistan. As of 2024-2025, the benchmark stood at 8 508 Pakistani Rupees [approximately EUR 25.4] per adult per month. Haider, S.A., Opinion: Poverty surges again, Business Recorder, 1 February 2026, url
- 2226
Haider, S.A., Opinion: Poverty surges again, Business Recorder, 1 February 2026, url
- 2227
Indicators of general vulnerability consider factors such as housing conditions, livelihoods, access to public education, and health care. Population Council, District Vulnerability Index for Pakistan (DVIP): Harnessing Multisectoral Data to Inform Equitable Policy and Climate Action, October 2025, url, pp. viii-ix
- 2228
Population Council, District Vulnerability Index for Pakistan (DVIP): Harnessing Multisectoral Data to Inform Equitable Policy and Climate Action, October 2025, url, p. 32
- 2229
HRW, “I Escaped with Only My Life”: Abusive Forced Evictions in Pakistan, May 2024, url, p. 14
- 2230
Dawn, Unkind reality of Lahore winters, 26 January 2025, url
- 2231
Pakistan Today, Homeless people struggle to survive as night shelters close, 17 July 2025, url