Top 10% of earners take 42% of Pakistan’s income: report

• The bottom 50% in Pakistan receives just 19% of the total income.
• Richest 10% own 59% of Pakistan’s total wealth: report.
• Top 1% control 24% of total wealth in Pakistan: WIL.

Inequality in Pakistan remains stark, with the top 10% of earners taking 42% of total income, while the bottom 50% receive just 19%, according to the Global Inequality Report 2026.

Published by the World Inequality Lab (WIL), a Paris-based research centre, the report says wealth in Pakistan is even more concentrated, with the richest 10% owning 59% of the total wealth and the top 1.0% controlling 24%. The News reported on Tuesday.

Pakistan’s average per capita income is around €4,200 (Purchasing Power Parity), while average wealth is €15,700 (PPP). The report noted only a slight reduction in the income gap between the top 10% and the bottom 50%, from 22 to 21.4, between 2014 and 2024. Female labor force participation also fell, falling from 9.8% to 8.5%.

“Overall, income and wealth are highly concentrated in Pakistan, with persistent gender disparities and only minor changes in inequality trends,” the report said. Globally, the report found that extreme inequality persists. The top 10% of global earners get more than the remaining 90%, while the poorest 50% share less than 10% of global income. Wealth is even more concentrated: the top 10% own three-quarters of the world’s wealth, while the bottom half owns just 2.0%.

The report also highlighted the wealth of the richest. The world’s richest 0.001% – fewer than 60,000 people – own more than the bottom 50% of the world’s population combined.

Their share has risen from nearly 4.0% in 1995 to over 6.0% today, with wealth growing at around 8.0% per year, almost twice the rate of the bottom half of the population.

“The result is a world in which a tiny minority wields unprecedented economic power, while billions remain excluded from even basic economic stability,” the report said.