Pakistan stands at a moment where the gap between what citizens experience daily and what public institutions and policy debates prioritize has rarely been more visible. The National Citizen Survey 2026 was designed to close that gap – not with speculation or anecdote, but with a rigorous, nationally representative measurement of what 5,155 Pakistani citizens actually think, worry about, and expect from their state.
This report presents an independent study conducted by the Institute for Public Opinion Research (IPOR), which was responsible for the survey design, fieldwork, data analysis and the findings presented in these pages. PILDAT Consulting has led stakeholder engagement and communications around this research, including convening the Citizens’ Roundtable and coordinating outreach to policymakers, parliamentarians, media and civil society – providing a platform through which IPOR’s findings can reach and inform those best placed to act on them.
We are grateful to the 5,155 citizens across all four provinces who gave their time to answer IPOR’s questions honestly and in detail. Their voices are the foundation of everything that follows in this report. We also thank IPOR’s field teams, who conducted face-to-face interviews across difficult terrain and demanding timelines to ensure the data reflects the full diversity of the country – urban and rural, male and female, across every province and income group.
It is our hope that this report will be read not merely as a collection of statistics, but as a considered account of where the country stands in the eyes of its own citizens – and as a resource for policymakers, journalists, researchers, and citizens themselves who share an interest in a more responsive and accountable Pakistan.