- Ownership of washing machines is much higher in Pakistan.
- Pakistan also leads India in refrigerator ownership.
- India dominates TV ownership, but the gap has narrowed.
ISLAMABAD: Despite India’s leadership in key macroeconomic measures such as GDP per capita, Pakistani households are more likely to own labour-saving appliances. The news reported Saturday, citing new analysis from Gallup Pakistan.
According to a “Big Data Analytics” report published by Gallup Pakistan on January 23, 2026, household consumption patterns in Pakistan and India show marked divergence.
The data found that 57.6% of Pakistani households now own a washing machine (almost triple India’s 20% ownership rate), indicating a greater preference in Pakistan for technologies that reduce housework despite broader economic pressures.
The trend extends to food preservation, where Pakistan maintains the lead with 56.2% of households owning a refrigerator, compared to 50.2% in India. Analysts suggest that these figures reflect a strategic choice by Pakistani families to prioritize domestic comforts and long-term assets over other forms of consumer spending.
While India continues to dominate the entertainment sector (66% of its households own a TV compared to Pakistan’s 50.2%), the report notes that this gap has been narrowing since 2019, indicating that Pakistani households are also gradually catching up in the entertainment sector.
In the area of transportation, the two neighbors show many more similar patterns. Motorcycle ownership is almost identical, with 53.4% in Pakistan and 55% in India, highlighting the shared regional need for two-wheelers for daily mobility.
Car ownership remains low in both nations, with India maintaining a marginal lead of 8% to Pakistan’s 6.4%. These findings underscore a fundamental conclusion: GDP per capita does not always serve as a direct mirror of household well-being.
Factors such as relative prices, infrastructure and cultural values play a decisive role in how income is converted into real living standards.
Ultimately, the Gallup report suggests that while India’s economy may be larger in aggregate terms, Pakistani households appear to be investing more in technologies that improve the immediate quality of domestic life.
By prioritizing labor-saving devices, Pakistan is blazing a unique path in household development that offers valuable insights for social and economic policies across South Asia.
The data highlights that living standards are a product of both income and choice, revealing a resilient middle-class aspiration in Pakistan that persists despite the country’s macroeconomic volatility.
