Business confidence in Pakistan weakened in the fourth quarter of 2025, with all three components of Gallup Pakistan’s Business Confidence Index (BCI) showing a decline from the second quarter, the research body said on Monday.
The sixteenth wave of the BCI is based on responses from 571 randomly selected businesses nationwide for the October to December period. The index tracks current business performance, expectations for the next quarter, and perceptions of the country’s overall direction.
Gallup Pakistan reported that views on present business conditions dropped to +8 percent from +20 percent in Q2, indicating fewer firms rate their situation as good or very good. Expectations for the next quarter also softened, falling to +12 percent from +22 percent. Perceptions of the country’s direction slipped further, down to minus 8 percent from minus 2 percent.
Despite the quarter-to-quarter decline, Gallup noted that all three indicators remain stronger than in Q4 2024 and better than most readings recorded in 2022 and 2023.
Inflation remains the top concern for businesses. Thirty three percent want the government to prioritise price stability, pointing to renewed upward movement in food and energy prices after several months of easing.
Power shortages also continue to disrupt operations. Forty two percent of firms reported load-shedding on the day they were surveyed, roughly the same level as last year, despite major investments in electricity infrastructure.
On governance, forty six percent of respondents said the current PML N government is performing better than the previous PTI administration. The number is unchanged from Q2 and five points higher than the same period last year.
Gallup Pakistan Executive Director Bilal Gilani said business sentiment has “slided minorly,” adding that economic stabilisation alone will not deliver a sustained improvement in confidence. He said stronger growth is now essential, and noted that the PML N government continues to retain relatively higher trust among the business community for economic relief and reforms.
