Devastating floods have displaced millions across Pakistan, hitting key agricultural and textile industries and raising fears of cholera outbreaks.
A heavier-than-usual monsoon, beginning in late June, submerged large parts of Punjab and Sindh, Pakistan’s most populous and economically important provinces. Half of the country’s rice, cotton, and maize crops have been damaged, while workshops vital to the country’s textiles industry are under water, and doctors warned that conditions in camps for the millions of displaced are likely to cause disease. After years of slow growth, Islamabad hoped for an economic rebound in 2026 following an International Monetary Fund bailout. But the floods will set that back: Crop prices have jumped and the central bank said it expected a “significant supply shock.”