HDI 0.544; rank 168/193 in HDR 2025.
Source
UNDP — https://www.undp.org/pakistan/press-releases/human-development-progress-slows-35-year-low-according-undps-2025-human-development-report. Verified in source set / retroactive normalization pending.
What it proves
Growth alone does not capture development; human-capital constraints remain severe.
What it does not prove: A rank out of 193 moves when other countries' data or estimates change, so the slide to 168th is not by itself evidence of absolute decline in Pakistani welfare. The 0.544 is an average of health, schooling and income components and hides distribution entirely — inequality adjustment removes about a third of it — so the score cannot be attributed to any single sector's failure.
Memory hook: 0.544, 168/193 → only 25 countries rank below Pakistan on human development
Rebuts the claim: "Restoring GDP growth has been translating into development for Pakistanis" — human development sits near the bottom of the global distribution even across growth episodes.