Measurement and Decomposition of Consumption Inequality in Pakistan

Abstract

This paper shows that inequality in consumption expenditure in Pakistan improved slightly between 1992/93 and 2004/05, and that the extent of inequality in food consumption has remained substantially lower than in nonfood consumption. An important result is that household expenditure on education has been more unequally distributed than overall consumption expenditures. In contrast, healthcare expenditure in urban areas has been distributed relatively more evenly in recent years, while the level of inequality in healthcare expenditures in rural areas has remained persistent and somewhat higher