Minimum Wage Pakistan 2026: Province-by-Province Rates

Quick answer: The minimum wage in Pakistan for 2026-27 depends on where you work. The federal budget set Rs40,700 a month, Sindh approved Rs43,000 from 1 July 2026, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced Rs45,000, Gilgit-Baltistan Rs44,000, while Punjab and Balochistan kept Rs40,000 for unskilled workers at budget time.

Key takeaways

There is no single minimum wage in Pakistan: the federal government and each province set their own floor for unskilled workers.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced the highest provincial figure for 2026-27 at Rs45,000 a month, followed by Gilgit-Baltistan at Rs44,000 and Sindh at Rs43,000.
Punjab and Balochistan kept their minimum wage at Rs40,000 a month at budget time, while the federal figure rose from Rs37,000 to Rs40,700.
Punjab's last notified rate equals Rs1,538.46 a day for an eight-hour day, which works out to roughly Rs192 an hour.
Announcements do not always reach workers quickly, so keep payslips and check your provincial labour department for the latest notification.

Last updated: 3 October 2026

Anyone searching for the minimum wage Pakistan 2026 figure quickly finds that there is no one number. After the 2026-27 budgets, the legal floor for an unskilled worker ranges from Rs40,000 to Rs45,000 a month depending on the province or region. This guide brings the federal and provincial figures together in one place, shows what they mean per day and per hour, and explains what to do if your pay falls short.

Minimum wage Pakistan 2026: what is the current rate?

For the 2026-27 financial year, the minimum monthly wage for unskilled workers is Rs40,700 at federal level, Rs43,000 in Sindh, Rs45,000 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Rs44,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and Rs40,000 in Punjab and Balochistan. The right figure for you is the one set where you are employed.

The federal government's Budget 2026-27 set the national benchmark at Rs40,700, ARY News reported. The previous federal figure for 2025-26 had been held at Rs37,000, according to a September 2026 analysis in the Daily Mirror, so the new number is a 10% rise. Provinces then announced their own rates in their budgets over the following days.

Minimum wage Pakistan 2026 by province

Federal benchmark: Rs40,700 a month (previously Rs37,000). Status: announced in Budget 2026-27.
Punjab: Rs40,000 a month (previously Rs40,000). Status: unchanged at budget time.
Sindh: Rs43,000 a month (previously Rs40,000). Status: approved by provincial cabinet, effective 1 July 2026.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Rs45,000 a month (previously Rs40,000). Status: announced in provincial budget; an employees' union has sought implementation in autonomous bodies.
Balochistan: Rs40,000 a month (previously Rs40,000). Status: unchanged at budget time.
Gilgit-Baltistan: Rs44,000 a month (previously Rs40,000). Status: approved by GB cabinet.

The status note matters. In Pakistan, a budget speech is a statement of intent; the binding figure is the one the provincial government formally notifies. Punjab, for example, announced its 2025-26 increase in the budget but only issued the notification in September 2025, the Daily Mirror noted.

Which province has the highest minimum wage in 2026?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the highest announced figure at Rs45,000 a month. Chief Minister Sohail Afridi proposed Rs45,000 in the province's budget, putting KP ahead of the other three provinces, ARY News reported.

Gilgit-Baltistan comes next. Its cabinet lifted the floor from Rs40,000 to Rs44,000, applying to workers in government and private employment alike, The Pakistan Connect reported in September. Sindh follows at Rs43,000: the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah approved a 7.5% rise backdated to 1 July 2026, TechJuice reported, and the new rates apply across the province's notified industrial and commercial workplaces.

Sindh also raised the floors for semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled workers, but the per-category figures were not stated in the reports reviewed for this guide. Check the Sindh Labour Department's notification for your trade.

What is the minimum wage per day and per hour?

Punjab's September 2025 notification fixed Rs40,000 for 26 working days, equal to Rs1,538.46 for an eight-hour day, the Daily Mirror reported. That is about Rs192 an hour.

The list below applies the same 26-day, eight-hour method to the other 2026-27 figures. These are Jobsiz calculations for guidance only; your provincial notification is the final word.

Rs40,000 (Punjab, Balochistan): about Rs1,538 a day, or Rs192 an hour
Rs40,700 (federal): about Rs1,565 a day, or Rs196 an hour
Rs43,000 (Sindh): about Rs1,654 a day, or Rs207 an hour
Rs44,000 (Gilgit-Baltistan): about Rs1,692 a day, or Rs212 an hour
Rs45,000 (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): about Rs1,731 a day, or Rs216 an hour

Daily-wage and part-time workers can use the hourly figures to check whether a shift payment is lawful. A labourer paid Rs1,200 for a full eight-hour day in Karachi, for instance, would be well below the Sindh floor.

Why is there no single national minimum wage?

Minimum wages are set and enforced provincially, so each province decides its own rate. Implementation and compliance sit with the provincial governments, Islamabad Capital Territory, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Daily Mirror noted, citing official parliamentary information.

The result is a patchwork. A worker in Peshawar and a worker in Lahore doing the same job can be entitled to floors Rs5,000 apart. Employers with sites in more than one province need to apply each province's rate separately.

Does the minimum wage reflect what workers really earn?

Not for many workers. The Labour Force Survey 2024-25 put the average monthly wage at Rs39,042, below the Rs40,000 floor already in force in several provinces, the Daily Mirror reported. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) puts the median wage even lower, at Rs33,600, and found that 57.1% of workers earn up to Rs35,000.

Informality is the main reason. Informal jobs made up 80.8% of employment in the same survey, and minimum-wage rules are hard to apply where employers are undocumented. PIDE had recommended a national benchmark of Rs45,000 for 2026-27, a level only KP's announcement matches.

Implementation can also lag even inside government. In September, the employees' union of KP's Small Industries Development Board called for the Rs45,000 rate to be applied to autonomous bodies and daily-wage workers, saying it had not yet been put into practice there, Mettis Global reported.

What can you do if you are paid less than the minimum wage?

Start by confirming the rate notified in your province for your skill category, then gather proof of what you are actually paid. Raise it with your employer in writing, and if that fails, approach your provincial labour department.

Find the right rate: check the latest notification from your provincial labour department, not just budget headlines.
Keep records: save payslips, bank transfer slips, attendance records and any appointment letter.
Work out the gap: use the daily and hourly figures above to calculate the shortfall from 1 July 2026, since rates such as Sindh's are backdated.
Raise it formally: ask your employer or HR in writing to apply the notified rate and pay arrears.
Escalate: contact the labour department or labour inspectorate in your province, or seek help from a registered trade union.

Common mistakes to avoid

Assuming the federal Rs40,700 figure applies in every province.
Treating a budget announcement as final before the provincial notification is issued.
Forgetting that higher floors usually apply to semi-skilled and skilled categories.
Throwing away payslips, which are your main evidence if arrears are paid later.

What this means for you

The minimum wage Pakistan 2026 picture is uneven. If you work in Sindh, your floor has risen to Rs43,000 from 1 July 2026, so check that your July salary onwards reflects it. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan higher rates have been announced, so check whether they have been notified and applied to your pay. In Punjab and Balochistan the reported rate is still Rs40,000, but watch for a late notification, as Punjab's previous increase arrived in September. Employers should review payroll now to avoid arrears claims.

For more on pay and public-sector jobs, see our guides "HEC TTS Salary 2026: New Pay Scales for University Faculty" and "66,815 Pakistanis Left for Jobs Abroad in July-August" on Jobsiz.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Pakistan in 2026?

It depends on your province. For 2026-27 the federal benchmark is Rs40,700 a month, Sindh is Rs43,000, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced Rs45,000 and Gilgit-Baltistan Rs44,000. Punjab and Balochistan kept Rs40,000 at budget time.

What is the minimum wage per hour in Pakistan?

Based on 26 working days of eight hours, Rs40,000 a month equals Rs1,538.46 a day, or about Rs192 an hour. Under the same method, Sindh's Rs43,000 works out to about Rs207 an hour and KP's Rs45,000 to about Rs216.

Which province has the highest minimum wage in Pakistan?

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with Rs45,000 a month announced in its 2026-27 budget. Gilgit-Baltistan is next at Rs44,000, followed by Sindh at Rs43,000.

Is the minimum wage the same across Pakistan?

No. Minimum wages are set and enforced provincially, so each province has its own rate. The federal figure is a benchmark, but your entitlement is the rate notified where you work.

What is Pakistan's minimum wage in US dollars?

Using the conversion applied by the Daily Mirror in September 2026, Rs40,000 is about $145 a month. PIDE's recommended Rs45,000 benchmark was put at roughly $163 in the same analysis.

What should I do if my employer pays less than the minimum wage?

Check the notified rate for your province and skill level, keep your payslips and payment records, and ask your employer in writing to correct your pay and arrears. If that fails, contact your provincial labour department or a registered trade union.

Sources

This article was compiled by Jobsiz from the sources listed above, with AI-assisted writing and automated fact-checking. Published 3 October 2026. We update stories when new verified information becomes available.

Minimum Wage Pakistan 2026: Rates by Province Explained