ISLAMABAD: Pakistanis are consuming less wheat, rice, pulses, milk and meat than they did six years ago, while intake of cheaper, less nutritious vegetable ghee has risen sharply, a stark indicator that rising food prices and shrinking incomes are squeezing the poor, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26.
“Monthly per capita consumption of key food groups between 2018-19 and 2024-25 reveals a decline in staple cereals, pulses, milk, and meat, the primary sources of protein, while consumption of vegetable ghee has risen markedly.”
Per capita wheat and wheat flour consumption dropped from 7.0 kg to 6.59 kg per month. Rice fell from 1.06 kg to 0.86 kg. Pulses declined from 0.35 kg to 0.26 kg. Fresh milk consumption fell from 6.85 kg to 6.15 kg. Meat (beef, mutton and chicken) dropped from 0.61 kg to 0.50 kg.
At the same time, vegetable ghee consumption jumped from 0.69 kg to 1.25 kg per person per month, an 81 percent increase.
“Access to adequate and nutritious food is directly associated to its affordability,” the survey said. “When food prices rise beyond the purchasing capacity of households, particularly those in lower income brackets, it directly undermines dietary diversity and nutritional outcomes. “These shifts suggest that rising food prices and constrained household incomes are compressing dietary diversity, with lower-income households substituting cheaper, energy-dense but nutrient-poor options for more nutritious foods,” the survey said. The cost of the minimum food basket per capita per month rose 3.2 percent between July 2025 and March 2026, peaking at Rs 6,417 in October before easing slightly
