According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service in which 84 countries were surveyed, Pakistanis spend more of their income on food than any other country. An average Pakistani spends 47.7 per cent of their house hold budget on food consumed at home.
On the other hand, people in United States spent the least on food, even less than Europeans and Canadians. An average American citizen spends only 6.6 per cent of their house hold budget on food at home.
In Pakistan, where average consumer expenditures per person, which comprises of personal expenditures on goods and services, are $871 people spend $415 on food at home. In comparison, Americans spend nearly $2,273 on food.
It is pertinent to note that while US citizens spent a smaller fraction of their budget on food, the amount spent on food is almost five times of what an average Pakistani spends on food.
The stark difference could possibly be explained since the per capita income of Pakistan stood at $1,299 in 2012-13, while the per capita income of US was $53,143.
[infogram url="" height="650"]
Besides the US, people in Singapore, United Kingdom and Canada spend less than 10 per cent of consumer expenditure on food. An average Singaporean spends almost 7.3 per cent of their household income on food, while Britishers and Canadians splash almost 9.1 and 9.6 per cent of their house hold budget on food.
An average Indian spends almost $220 every year on food at home, which translates into 25.2 per cent of their total consumer expenditure every year.
COMMENTS (41)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
-(14)1720679028-0/(image-blakelively-on-Instagram)-(14)1720679028-0-165x106.webp "article")
1731028448-0/Untitled-design-(37)1731028448-0-165x106.webp "article")
To the article author . I'm not interested in being compaired with others, but with expenditure on food in president and prime minsters and chief minsters compaired with average house hold in Pakistan.
@Sudhanshu Swami @IndianDude they started eating after 1971 ?
Do you know what is sarcasm?
@observer definitely, its after exchange rate. I have many friends from India and you will be surprised to hear how much they earn in India and prices of almost all commodities are significantly less.
@IndianDude they started eating after 1971 ?
@Waqar:
""When Indians are spending half of what Pakistanis are spending on food, it clearly shows that food inflation is very high in Pakistan. Cost of food production is probably very similar in both countries – it is the distribution, marketing and taxation that is contributing to high food prices. This can be attributed to fuel taxation, sales taxes and other useless taxes that are being levied on the poor people of Pakistan because the rich don’t pay tax. Something has to change, and soon. "
You are making wrong conclusions. The real fact is that the per capita total income/GDP of Pakistanis has been shrinking.over the past few years. The GDP and population growth numbers have been routinely inflated to make the economic parameters look better. Musharraf was a master at cooking the books.
Due to wrong national priorities, the economy has not been growing enough to keep up with inflation and population growth. Pakistan is spending about 65% of its national income on the military- nuclear bombs, missiles, fighter jets, military salaries, pension, debt servicing on debt accumulated due to military purchases. That means every Pakistani is spending about 65% of their incomes on the military related items.
As a result, in reality the people have been getting poorer and people have to spend more of their earnings on food.
@Aksam Khalid:
"A professional in India earns 30-40% more with similar qualifications in an identical role."
Is that after allowing for the exchange rate?
Pakistanis spends more than half their income on food because being a martial race they have to eat lots of meats and other highly nutritious food, unlike daal chawal eating coward banias.
@Dipak:
...VEGETARIAN..? take a break dude. In fact more and more non-muslims are eating non-veg...resulting in its price rise.
@Waqar No dear Food & other groceries are still one of the cheapest in the world, real problem is low wages & big Family. If any person have 8 kids & earns 250 Pkr then its obvious. Karachi is cheapest city in 3 consecutive years. Pakistan will definitely prosper it just need on population control & get rid of Jihadi Ideology. Your country possess wast natural resources.
A poor man often spends all his income on food, no guarantee his stomach will be full though.
When Indians are spending half of what Pakistanis are spending on food, it clearly shows that food inflation is very high in Pakistan. Cost of food production is probably very similar in both countries - it is the distribution, marketing and taxation that is contributing to high food prices.
This can be attributed to fuel taxation, sales taxes and other useless taxes that are being levied on the poor people of Pakistan because the rich don't pay tax.
Something has to change, and soon.
We have a problem with weightage & quality too as offered in equivalent term compared with mentioned surveyed countries & including inflation being the most glaring factor. let US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service do a joint survey with the team of " Sare Aam " to expose our most ingenious ways of doing service to its people...probable re-action ! mass suicide by the members of US dept.....
Well that explains why middle class is fast disappearing.
The food prices may be high but they cannot be higher as compared to developed nations. compare how much a loaf of bread costs in pakistan viz a viz US or in Venezuela where the inflation is now touching 40% yet people there spend only 18 % on food out of their disposable income. Any attempt to make comparisons based on absolute figures is futile as they will give incorrect interpretations. There is a reason why data is presented in terms of percentage. The net result can be attributed to a number of factors, i will try and give my explanation. Anyone who has a better one or can correct me or add further may please do so. An average pakistani spends 47 % on food implies only 53 % surplus income is left in his hand for other things like education, healthcare, housing,clothing, saving,investment etc for himself and family. and that is 53% of $1299 the per capita which works out to about $680 a year (66,680 Pakistani rupees). Certainly high food prices put a dent on the figures but it is ultimately the low income range existing in pakistan coupled with large family size which is responsible for its dismal performance on the index. Indians also suffering from mild level of food inflation spend 27% on buying food which leaves them with 73% of their income to spend on other things. The per capita income of India being $1504 which means Indians are left with $1097 after food expenses which also translates to around 65,000 Indian ruppees. But owing to smaller family size, lower food prices and higher income ($200 extra can make a lot of difference in this part of the world). Also the fact that in India,much like in pakistan, the majority poor live in rural areas and practice farming. This group in india gets heavy subsidies on food about $12 billion in food subsidies a year by indian government, thereby reducing the pressure on food cost. US with Per capita income $53,000 spend 6.6% on food which leaves them with 93.4% for other activities thereby explaining why they like to party in vegas every 6 months lol. But what is the reason ? Low food prices, often deflation than inflation. High income group and small family size of course. I hope this helps !
conclusion is simple .... pakistanis are poor .... consumer inflation in pakistan is high.....no room for saving and spending on other items when u gotta to fulfill basic of basics.... aka food ...
@sabi: I agree and would add that when family of ten is dependent on one bread earner, then only 50% of his income will be spent to feed them. Need is to create skill set and employment opportunity by creating "ease of doing business infrastructure" / water, energy resources and so on.
I think it shows lack of labor law in the country, which can't force the employers to keep a decent minimum wage and increment policy. A professional in India earns 30-40% more with similar qualifications in an identical role. We are one of the lowest paid employees in the world and with the rise in number of Chinese firms the pay scales are dipping further. When you earn 10 Rs and then spend 5 Rs on a roti than for sure you will end up spending half for food!
It seems either food inflation is too high in pakistan or family size is bigger compared to other nations .
Its all about purchasing power and earning per capita. Food is still cheaper in Pakistan if it is compared to prices in other countries. However, due to low earnings of a average pakistani, this head takes a significant slice in the total earning.
when you have 8 kids dependent on a single person.
@Ch. Allah Daad: But Punjab, the most fertile land in the country has been under your beloved Sheikh Nawaz's rule for 25 years now, please let us know whether affordability of food has improved under him or not?
This analysis implies that per capita income in India is $873 ( if $220 amounts to 25.2% income then implied per capita income is $873.00 . That is not correct. India is now a lower middle income country and its income is over $1400.00
@Max: The analysis did show the income gap in the 2 countries because iPer capita ncome in US and Pakistan are both listed.
@Ch. Allah Daad: What @Sabi meantis that food is expensive relative to income in Pakistan - which is true of course. In any case in India and Pakistan the supply chain from farm to fork is so nroken that even as the final person pays a very high price at retai, a very small portion goes to the farmer who continues to have a low income. The other 2 points you made about labour participation of women in workforce as well as family size inPakistan are also contributory factors for sure. As such what you say is not inconsistent with what @Sabi says.
@meon: The reference here is cost as compared to income. Pakistanis according to this. Analysis spend more of their income on food. Secondly, it i pis not just how many calories one consumes that determines the cost of food but the overall nutritional composition. Fruits, milk meat, nuts cost a lot and Americans have all that in greater proportion.
So there is nothing wrong witn the analysis.
@Ch. Allah Daad: I am from Panjab on this side of the border and in Zimindar community the majorty if the first childe is male than full stop only one child and majority is having only two childes and this implies to all well to do families irrespective of cast but in the case of poor uneducated people the number is four five but I was surprised when some days back I noticed a news item in ET that man with three bibis and 18 children was looking for fourth bibi and want to have more children and he was not a poor man.
@Ch. Allah Daad: Your correct Chaudhary Sahib in US or UK even husband and wife share the expenditure equally.
What a strange comparison between USA & Pakistan. If in USA,UK,CANADA, AUSTRALIA people have to spend half of their income just to buy food people will be on streets instead of work. It used to happened about 500 years ago and unfortunately PMLN & PPP pushed us to that era,millions are spent to protect their houses while common Pakistanis living on 2$ on a day. Democracy can't be this cruel.
Is it purchased power parity adjusted expenditure? In us one may not b able to buy as much food using $10 as a person here in pakistan can from 1000 rupees. Moreover, people of developed countries waste more food. Ofcourse i have no objections over this news. All i wanted to figure out was the quantity of food people buy and what percentage of it they actually use
its simply because most people have only the income to spend on food, when half of your income is going on food only, you do not have enough left to spend on education of your children considering most people in Pakistan have multiple kids.
By looking at the picture of food these people are eating one can easily calculate their per capita income.No statistical comparison with other richer local minority or countries please
I can see two differences between Pakistan and India. Pakistanis have larger family members whether they can afford or not. Secondly most of the Indians with smaller family members are vegetarians so the cost is low.
@sabi: Tell an American that food is cheap who runs his household of ten people on one income? Majority of Americans have very small families and most of them have two incomes. The basic difference between us and developed nations is that we grow our numbers before growing our income. In west it's opposite.
It simply means food is more expensive for Pakistanis relative to their income. In fact staple food items (lentils, rice, wheat, sugar etc) saw a phenomenal rise during 2000-2009 (especially the Mush years) when even roti went to Rs 10 a piece in 2007.
@meon: The analysis is correct. It is a comparative market price. In the U.S a gallon of milk costs $ 4.00 while in Pakistan you buy for less. The analysis, however, does not show the income gap between the two countries. The reason is simple: too many mouths to feed-----population explosion.
@Ch. Allah Daad, Sir 91 cents out of 1 dollar spent on Food goes to Middle Men. How can farmers get richer
very logical. the comparison is hilarious.a person earning only 100 rs.uses 50 on food its 50%. but a person earning 1000 and spending 100 on food makes it 10%...where is the comparison?it does not imply that earner of 100 rs.is eating more
@meon: very logical.
the analysis is a bit skewed, the point to note is that an adult consumes an average of 3000 calories per day. for that an American spends $2,273 per year, whereas a Pakistani spends $415.
this implies that the cost of consumption of a years food is much higher for Americans compared to a Pakistani.
It does not mean that food is expensive, otherwise farmers would have more income. When family of ten is dependent on one income, then only 50% of one income spent to feed them is a miracle.
It is economic phenomenon that poors spend greater share of their income on food items, and when their income increase share for food budget also increases in the beginning and it reduces when they get out of poverty. But in Pakistan it is worse because of higher inflation in food items. Food items prices in Pakistan are higher than developed europeans countries in nominal terms. And the reasons are higher prices of farm inputs and conventional farming.
No pride but it's a matter of great shame that basic necessity of life is so expensive in this country that it consumes half of the monthly budget . Spending less in America for food doesn't mean they eat less but that food is very cheap there. Basics for good democracy is fill the stomach first.Let democracy work in this country so that people spend less on food.