Business Confidence in Pakistan Soars to 4-Year High

The confidence of Pakistan’s private businesses has surged in the country’s direction to its highest level in nearly four years according to Gallup Pakistan’s latest survey.

Gallup Pakistan’s latest business confidence survey for the second quarter of 2025 shows a notable improvement in the private sector’s perception of the country’s economic direction. The survey, conducted between July 23 and 27, gathered opinions from 524 businesses across manufacturing, services, and trade sectors. The “Direction of the Country Score” rose to 2 percent, the highest level since late 2021, reflecting reduced political and economic uncertainty. Around 46 percent of businessmen rated the current government’s economic management better than the previous administration, up from 24 percent last year. Gallup Pakistan’s Executive Director Bilal Ijaz Gilani described this as a cautiously improving mood among the business community, though he stressed that sustained progress will depend on continued reforms and policy consistency.

Business performance also showed improvement, with 61 percent of respondents rating their operations as good or very good, a six-point rise from the last quarter. The services and trade sectors recorded the largest gains, while manufacturing showed slower recovery. Future business confidence improved slightly by one percentage point, indicating stable but limited optimism for the coming months. Inflation, which eased to 0.3 percent in April from 38 percent in May 2023, was identified as the top challenge by 28 percent of respondents. High utility costs (18 percent) and taxation (11 percent) were also key concerns. Load-shedding affected 47 percent of businesses, though this was lower than in previous years.