Poverty rate in Pakistan has increased as 800,000 more citizens have gone abroad in a year.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb presented the Economic Survey in the National Assembly yesterday, according to which the poverty rate in the country has reached 28.9 percent, while 800,000 Pakistanis have gone abroad in search of employment during the last fiscal year.

According to the Economic Survey data, poverty in urban areas has increased from 11 percent to 17.4 percent and in rural areas from 28.2 percent to 36.2 percent.

Similarly, the national level education rate has been recorded at 63 percent, which reflects the ongoing progress in the literacy sector in the country.

At the provincial level, Balochistan has been declared the poorest province of the country with a rate of 47 percent. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa came second with 35.3 percent, Sindh third with 32.6 percent and Punjab fourth with 23.3 percent.

Analysts say these government poverty figures have raised questions about the country’s economy and government claims.

In addition, out of the 800,000 Pakistanis who went abroad to seek employment, 530,000 chose Saudi Arabia.

Similarly, the number of people going to Qatar remained at 68,000, while the number going to the United Arab Emirates decreased to 52,000. The number going to the United Kingdom and Oman also saw a significant decline.

There was a mixed trend in the energy and manufacturing sectors, where natural gas and oil production recorded a decline. In contrast, coal production increased by 6.5 percent, while iron ore production saw an extraordinary and record increase of 41 percent, which is a positive economic indicator.