A historical perspective of Issues in

Pakistan Economy

Wajid Ali Chatha

18224
TABLE OF CONTENT

1. Executive summary.
2. History/Background.
3. Literature Review/ Brief Research Description
4. Analysis of Problem/Conditions.
5. Comparative review.
6. Survey Results.
7. Core Issue.
8. Recommendations/way forward.
9. References.
10. Annexures
I. History of Pakistan-Chronological order of sequence of events.
II. HDI – Pakistan rating year 2019.
III. Comparative analysis of Pakistan, India & Bangladesh economy.
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Pakistan throughout its history has faced dilemma of an unsustainable growth. We have

seen small periods of gradual incremental growth but after every 4 to 5 years GDP Growth takes

a nose-diving dip and somehow, Pakistan has to start from brink. In this report based on Primary

& secondary research, we have analyzed what are the core reasons of Pakistan lagging behind in

achieving a sustainable growth pattern. A survey was conducted to figure out core reasons and

way forward for Pakistan. A comparative analysis from Year 1990 onward will be provided with

neighboring countries India & Bangladesh in different indicators to analyze the areas where

Pakistan is lagging behind and reasons behind it.

Additionally, Pakistan’s standing on Human development Index will also be reviewed and

a comparative analysis of Standard of Living (GNI Index), Knowledge (Education Index) and

Long & Healthy life (Life expectancy index) with other neighbor countries shall be provided.

In the last part of report based on the analysis, a recommendation or way forward is

presented which is related with addressing issues related to political stability, capacity building

and effective control measures.

 HISTORY / BACKGROUND

As mentioned earlier, Pakistan's economic performance since 1947 has been, at times, quite

good but for most part it is nothing but dismal. To begin with Pakistan had a very difficult start

and major part of first 10 years primarily focused towards survival initiatives. In 60s, Pakistan

economy took off primarily due to US support and Govt initiatives in Agriculture and

manufacturing sector. However later Pakistan somehow failed to maintain the high growth in

agriculture and manufacturing which it experienced in the 1960s. The 1970s, for a host of reasons,

most beyond the control of the incumbent government, were not even a patch on the 1960s,

although surprisingly in the 1970s the economy performed better than it did in the 1950s, Towards

the end of the 1970s, and for much of the 1980s, until at -least 1988, the high growth pattern re-

emerged, although qualitatively different from the growth performance of the 1960. The economy

in the 1980s seemed to be on a higher plane than that of the 1960s. There were murmurs that

perhaps Pakistan had once again returned to the 'natural' growth rate path of 6 per cent plus, and

would now continue where it had left off in1968-9. However, just as the ten-year period after 1958

had unraveled, resulting in an appreciable slowing down of the economy, so too did the end of the

ten or so years from about 1978-9 onwards.

Below is a brief tabular summary of first four decades of Pakistan and its key economic growth

initiatives.

TABLE 1: GROWTH RATE IN PAKISTAN IN DIFFERENT DECADES.

 LITERATURE REVIEW/ BRIEF RESEARCH
DESCRIPTION

Primarily secondary research was carried out in reaching inference related to issues.

However, a brief primary research was also done and mode of research was online survey through

survey questionnaires. Six questions with predefined multiple choices were given to survey

participants. A detailed analysis of survey feedback is carried out in chapter “Survey Results”.
 ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM / CONDITIONS

Following are some of the key problems that Pakistan is facing with respect to its

economic & social indicators especially in last 30 years.

Non-sustainable GDP growth:

As mentioned earlier Pakistan has faced a key issue on an unsustainable GDP growth.

Below graph shows historic trend of Pakistan’s GDP Growth. From a historic high of 11.3% in

1970, it has also faced a contrasting dip of 0.46% in 1971 and IMF prediction about 2020 is that

Pakistan GDP growth will be in negative for first time in History.

One stanch aspect to be noted here is that positive trend is gradual, however most of the times

downward or negative trend has taken a nose-diving jump. Another very interesting aspect is

presented in below graph of annual change and it is very evident that massive negative dips were

faced in the years of Political turmoil, instability and Government change years.

Same has been categorically proved from our survey questionnaire response where overwhelming

majority has linked political stability as major indicator towards improvement of Pakistan’s

economic conditions.

Revenue collection & Fiscal Deficit:

“Pakistan’s tax collection is over 60 percent below what it should be collected at the

moment but it is equivalent compared to peer regional economies,” Ms Teresa said while

addressing one-day conference titled “Doing Taxes Better: Shifting the Paradigm of Tax Policy
and Administration. So, tax collection has been one of the major issues faced by Pakistan due to

inefficient & Outdated tax collection system of FBR, lack of data base (where although NADRA

has lately been able to gather substantial amount of data but it is not properly integrated) and lack

of will of masses to pay taxes. Figure below shows quarterly revenue collection trends in last 20

years.

This failure of collecting ample revenue creates a dilemma of fiscal deficit. Below figure shows

a 20 years trend of Pakistan’s fiscal deficit as percentage of GDP.

Most of Pakistan’s budgetary expenditures are inflexible. Overall Debt service payments, defense

expenditures and pensions account for over 60% of federal government expenditures.

Trade deficit:

Another key concerning area is persistent trade deficit especially in last 15 years. Pakistan has

somehow especially liberalization of trade regimes under WTO in early 2000’s has lost its

Comparative advantage. Our industrial sector that initially grew under import substitution bias

with substantial governmental support has not prepared itself for global market competitiveness.

The lack of entrepreneurship and gaps in business support policies have kept Pakistan from moving

up on the technology ladder preventing the country to achieve higher value addition and greater

export diversification. Below is a list of sectors and corresponding revealed comparative advantage

& one can easily observe that we only have better comparative advantage rating in low valued

added items like Animals, vegetables & textile sector and when it comes to sophisticated value-

added products our comparative advantage rating is very low. In last two decades Small
manufacturing industries have almost vanished from Pakistan due to lack of intent & Government

support for this segment.

Down slide in Agriculture sector:

Agriculture is the lifeblood of Pakistan’s economy because it contributes about 18.5% to GDP,

provides livelihood to 64% rural inhabitants and employs 38.5% of the total national labor force.

The sector has direct and indirect linkages with other sectors of the economy and plays a significant

role in socio-economic development of the country. Due to multiple factors, during the last few

decades, its contribution to GDP has gradually decreased to 19.3 percent. Ironically very meager

number of financial resources varying between 0.11 to 0.63% of agricultural GDP in last twenty

year is spent on research and development. This has made Pakistan net food importing country
since 2013. Yield gap between average and progressive farmers is about 40%, which is even higher

between research stations and farming communities (40 to 80%). Although we proudly announced

that we are food self-sufficient in wheat, rice and sugar but biased policies (input subsidy and

support price etc) towards these crops discouraged farmers to shift from low value to high value

crops. Some key issues being faced in agriculture sector are crop diversification, efficient use of

water and promotion of high value crops including biotechnology, reducing mark-up rates,

agriculture credit enhancement, subsidized fertilizer prices and cheap electricity. It is also worth

mentioning that Pakistan population is increasing at a rate of 2.4%, however corresponding growth

in agriculture sector to cater the food needs of population addition are not in parity.

Table below shows annual growth rate of Agriculture sector in Pakistan.

 Pakistan is also facing a major challenge of lower yields in Cotton which is major cash

crop and key raw material to its export base i.e., Textile. Out of all major crops only rice has

maintained a sustainable yield patron in last 5 years.

Very Low human development index:

Pakistan’s HDI value for 2019 is 0.557— which put the country in the medium human

development category—positioning it at 154 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 1990

and 2019, Pakistan’s HDI value increased from 0.402 to 0.557, an increase of 38.6 percent. Table

A reviews Pakistan’s progress in each of the HDI indicators. Between 1990 and 2019, Pakistan’s

life expectancy at birth increased by 7.2 years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.9 years and
expected years of schooling increased by 3.7 years. Pakistan’s GNI per capita increased by about

64.1 percent between 1990 and 2019.

 However, as we will see later in comparative analysis with neighboring countries this HDI

value is very low in comparison to the Average of medium human development category countries

and to its neighboring countries in South Asia. We can also analyses from figure above that two

parameters, Per capita GNI & Education, although have improved but rate of improvement is very

low.

Annexure-ii, presents a detailed standing of Pakistan in terms of different parameters

related to Human Development Index.

Loss Making SOE’s:

The performance of state-owned enterprises in Pakistan is typically characterized by weak

financial management stemming from poor governance, excessive staff recruitment and political

interference in day-to-day operations. Over the past couple of decades, the consistent loss

accumulation by some SOEs and their fiscal spillovers have prompted successive governments to

initiate policy-oriented and institutional reforms in these entities. However, commitment issues

have persisted. Privatization agendas were also formulated, but the progress remained lackluster

due to recurring financial losses, non-viability of commercial operations and other structural

bottlenecks.

Figure below shows an overall heavy debt accumulation by these entities over the past few

years as corresponding percentage of GDP.

 COMPARATIVE REVIEW

Bangladesh and India have been selected for comparative review of different indicators

with Pakistan and period chosen is from 1990 to 2020. Following are key reason for choosing

above mentioned countries for comparison.

 Similar demographics.

 They were part of same country or got independence at same time.

 Have been engaged in similar law & order situations pre 1990s. India & Pakistan remained

engaged in conflicts with each other or with China. Then in 1980s where Pakistan was

dealing with Afghan war, India was having issues of insurgencies in Punjab & Kashmir

and Bangladesh soon after its war of liberation was facing issues of political turmoil that

also had two of its heads of state assassinated during military coups.
Key Indicators:

GDP Growth Rate:

Bangladesh has observed a constant gradual growth rate and its growth in Last 5 years is amongst

top five countries in world. At the same time India also has observed a gradual increase in same

period, however recently in last three years its GDP growth rate is also facing a downslide. On the

other hand, Pakistan although had a few good years from 2003 -07 and 2014-18 but overall, it was

not able to achieve level of sustainability that its neighbors have achieved.

GDP GROWTH RATE PK, BD, IND 1990-2020

Human development Index:

India has outperformed Pakistan thorough out this period on HDI index whereas Bangladesh also

surpassed Pakistan in 1996 and since than has maintained a comparatively better index than

Pakistan.

Table-B below shows a comparison of Pakistan’s HDI and component indicators for 2019 relative

to selected countries and groups.

Population Growth Rate:

Another key indicator which although relates to HDI index as well is population Growth.

Population Growth is one of the major issues being faced by Pakistan through out its history.

Currently our population is growing at around 2.0% per year which in comparison to India &

Bangladesh is very high growth rate. It is also worth mentioning that in 1971 at the time of

partition, Bangladesh population was 65 Million, whereas Pakistan population was 59 Million,

however in 2019 Bangladesh population due to its effective population control measures stands at

165 Million, Pakistan has crossed 200Million mark (216 Million).

Trade:

One sector where Bangladesh has probably outperformed both its neighbors is growth of exports

especially in last 10 years.

EXPORT OF GOODS & SERVICES.

Military expenditures:

One very common myth in Pakistan is that it is spending heavily on its defense & military

expenditures. However, if we analyze Pakistan is not even amongst top 20 countries in terms of

Military spending & surprisingly its current military spending is less than that of Bangladesh.
Annex—iii presents a comparative analysis of Life expectancy at birth, Infant mortality rate,

Remittances and Imports and it can be easily analyzed that Bangladesh is outperforming Pakistan

on all indicators.
 SURVEY RESULTS

In addition to carrying out literature review, data was also acquired through primary research by

conducting a survey. Audience of survey was EMBA class and six questions related to last 30

years of Pakistan’s economic history were asked from survey participants. Below is summary of

all questions asked and corresponding response results of participants.

Question No 01:

In your opinion, is Pakistan's economy functioning better than its neighbors?

Overwhelming majority of
participants (82%) were of the view
that yes Pakistan is lagging behind
from its neighbors in terms of
economic development.
Question No 02:

What in your opinion is core reason of Pakistan not performing to its potentials on economic

front?

57% respondents considered corruption of civilian leadership as core reason behind

Pakistan’s current downfall. Military interventions with 21.6% was second major reason
contributing to it. Pakistan’s ethnic divide was not considered as amongst the major
factors contributing to Pakistan’s economic downfall.
Question No 03:

What in your opinion is most important factor that has major impact in improving our

economic conditions?

54% respondents termed political stability as core factor in improvement of economic

status of Pakistan. Other factors considered were good relationship with neighboring
countries and devolution of Powers.
Question No 04:

Are you hopeful that Pakistan can achieve a sustainable level of development in near future?

Majority respondents are

hopeful that Pakistan will be
able to recover out of these grim
economic conditions.

Question No 05:

Which decade was better amongst these in terms of economic development?

Despite the fact that Pakistan

was badly hit by terrorism during
this period, there was an
unanimity that Pakistan
performed better on economic
front in 2000-10 in last 30 years.
Question No 6:

Which decade was worst amongst these in terms of economic development?

Similarly, decade from 2010-20

was considered as worst
performing in last 30 years.
 CORE ISSUE

Annexure-i presents a chronological sequence of major events in Pakistan history and one

can easily deduce that Pakistan through its history has not been able to acquire a complete decade

of stable economic policies.

Table below presents major downward dips in GDP Growth rate from Year 1961 onwards,

corresponding year and major political change or event in that particular year.

Year Dip % Major event or incident

1966 -4.6 War with India in preceding year i.e., 1965.

1971 -10.9 Indo-Pak war, creation of Bangladesh.

1979 -4.4 Hanging of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

1993 -5.95 Nawaz Shareef first Govt overthrown under 58-2B.

 1997 -3.8 Benazir Bhutto second Government removed.

2008 -3.1 Pervaiz Musharaf was removed from presidency.

2019 -4.85 First year of Imran Khan Govt.

So, it is very evident that in Pakistan a change in regime also meant a change of economic policies

paradigm and unlikely except for last 3 tenures of political governments no assembly in history of

Pakistan was able to complete its tenure under democratic rule. Another key attribute to support

this claim is that Pakistan GDP Growth rate was better under military leadership tenures and major

reason behind that in addition to aid from foreign countries (Primarily USA) was continuity of

economic policies due to longer ruling periods of these regimes.

Support to this claim can also be inferred through comparative analysis of political environment

in neighboring India & Bangladesh. India’s economic stability’s foundation was laid by continuity

of Nehru’s policies for first 17 years. Later when India liberalized its market in early 1990’s

Manmohan Singh was master mind of its political development in this era and he got ample time

to provide India a road map of stability initially as finance minister from 1991-96 and later as 13th

Prime minister of India from 2004-14.

Similarly, if we take example of Bangladesh it had far worse political crisis in its first 30 years and

so was the situation of economy. But last 11 years of Political stability have contributed most to

words economic turnaround of Bangladesh.

All other problems which are being faced by Pakistan that include religious extremism,

social and economic issues and lack of civilian supremacy are by products of lack of political

stability and failure to draw a long-term economic road map for the country.
 RECOMMENDATIONS/ WAY FORWARD

Political Stability:

As it is evident from survey results as well, political stability with a firm economic road map is

key to economic development of any country. We can observe from our neighboring countries as

well that their economic revival is directly linked to the political stability they had in their countries.

Pakistan’s key stake holders Federal, Provinces, Armed forces, Politicians, Judiciary, Media and

bureaucracy needs to sit down and re-define rules of the game. No country can survive in current

age having so much risks and uncertainties associated to it. A 20 years economic road map should

be framed and strictly adhered to by all stake holders.

Empowerment of provinces & Optimum resource allocation:

18th Amendment was a land mark in history of Pakistan with respect to devolutions of powers to

provinces. Federal & Provinces need to follow true spirit of this amendment and all hiccups in its

effective implementation should be removed. One aspect lacking so far is optimum resource
allocation to under developed areas which can be addressed through effective measures in the

future NFC Awards.

Good relations with Neighboring countries:

One of key factors with Pakistan is that no other country directly neighbors 40% population of

the world. However, Pakistan has not been able to capitalize on this opportunity and its trade with

neighboring countries especially in exports needs massive improvement. Pakistan needs to

improve its relations with India & Afghanistan and also needs to rationalize its trade balance with

China which is substantially in favor of China currently. Expansion of CPEC to other neighboring

countries can also turn out as a game changer in the region and can provide Pakistan an opportunity

to become trading hub of region.

Remove barriers to business:

Pakistan although recently has done well on world bank’s ease of doing business index and it

stands at a global ranking of 108 on WB 2020 index climbing 28 points. However, as it is indicative

from parameters rankings, Pakistan needs to improve on Paying tax, enforcing contracts and

registering property. Especial focus should be given to contract’s enforcement as Pakistan

currently has 56 bilateral arbitration cases pending at different forums.

Agriculture reforms:

Due to its wide spread impact on Pakistan’s work force, Agriculture sector needs immediate

attention. Government has to consider steps to provide easy financing mechanism to farmers as

currently the instrument available in the form of Agriculture Development Bank has not delivered

as per expectations. Additionally, efforts to facilitate farmer in ease of access to market should be

taken to reduce role of middle man (Arrtee). A crop planning & development commission should

be set up and its key role should be to guide farmers to cultivate crops as per Market demand.

Modern technologies need to be introduced to match Pakistan’s yield to other developing countries.

Education Reforms:

One of the key contributors to Pakistan’s failure is lack of skilled human resource due to poor

education system. Currently country is running under a no. of education systems and almost all of

them have an outdated curriculum. Pakistan needs to focus on aligning its Education system to

cater the Human Resource needs of modern day & curriculum should be updated keeping in view

latest global developments in IT, AI & Big data. Pakistan due to huge youth population ration can

become global IT hub if proper skill development policies are implemented.

Fixing the Elephants in Room:

SOE’s need immediate attention as these loss-making entities are also a major contributor to

overall budget deficit of country. Reforming of major loss-making entities like PIA, Steel mills,

Railway and Power sector has to be core agenda of Pakistan Governments. It is also worth

mentioning that under current economic condition Pakistan has to again engage with IMF for

another bail out Package and reform initiatives in loss making SOE’s can provide Pakistan a better

bargaining position.
 REFERENCES

1. Issues in Pakistan Economy. S Akber Zaidi 3 rd Edition.

2. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=PK

3. https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/OEMDC/ADVEC/WE

OWORLD

4. https://tradingeconomics.com/pakistan/gdp-growth-annual.

5. https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/627871-pakistan-tax-collection-62pc-below-its-

potential-imf.

6. http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/PAK

7. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/pakistan/tax-

revenue#:~:text=Pakistan%20Tax%20Revenue%20was%20reported,Sep%202020%2C%

20with%2081%20observations.

8. pbs.gov.pk.

9. An Assessment of Pakistan’s Export Performance and the Way Forward. Afia Malik, Ejaz

Ghani and Musleh ud Din.

10. Pakistan Economic survey 2018-2019

11. http://www.finance.gov.pk/survey/chapters_18/02-Agriculture.pdf

12. https://tribune.com.pk/story/2045092/short-history-fiscal-deficit.

13. Addressing Pakistan’s Chronic Fiscal Deficit. Ijaz Nabi and Anjum Nasim January 2020.
14. https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/PAK/pakistan/gdp-growth-

rate#:~:text=Pakistan%20gdp%20growth%20rate%20for,a%200.8%25%20increase%20f

rom%202015.
 ANNEXURES
Annex-i: Chronological order of Events in Pakistan History.

Year Event
1947 * Independence and the Partition of the subcontinent

* Karachi was declared as the Capital of Pakistan

* Pakistan became member of United Nations Organization

1948 *Death of Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

* Fighting between Pakistan and India over Kashmir

1951 * Pakistan's first Prime Minister, Liaqat Ali Khan was assassinated

1958 Military government of General Ayub Khan (During this period three Governor Generals &
4 Prime ministers were replaced.

1960 Ayub Khan becomes first elected president

1965 * 17-day India-Pakistan War. UN cease-fire declared

* Pakistan inaugurates first atomic reactor

1969 General Yahya Khan takes over the leadership of Pakistan and imposes martial law

1971 War between Pakistan and India leading to succession of East Pakistan and establishment
of Bangladesh

1973 Constitution is Adopted

1977 * General Zia-ul-Haq takes over government of Pakistan

* Pakistan's Constitution is Suspended

1979 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is hanged on disputed conviction for conspiring to commit political
murder.

USSR Attacks Afghanistan, Pakistan becomes main ally of US & Arab countries in
supporting Mujahideen fighting against USSR.
1985 * Non-party elections held. Mohammad Khan Junejo comes in as prime minister

* Pakistan's Constitution is restored with ammendments

1988 * Zia killed in plane crash. General elections held

* Pakistan People's Party returned to power with Benazir Bhutto as Prime Minister (her
party win 39% of vote in general election)

* Ghulam Ishaq Khan becomes president

1990 * Benazir's government dismissed by the president

* Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi is named as caretaker prime minister

* Nawaz Sharif elected as Prime Minister

1993 * Nawaz Sharif (Prime Minister) and Ghulam Ishaq Khan (President) resign

* Benazir elected as Prime Minister for the second time

* Farooq Leghari elected as President

1996 * Benazir's government dismissed by President Farooq Leghari

* Malik Meraj Khalid appointed as interim Prime Minister.

1997 * Elections. Nawaz Sharif elected as the Prime Minister

* President Farooq Leghari resigns

1998 Pakistan Explodes Five Nuclear Devices

1999 Gen. Pervez Musharraf takes over the government of Pakistan

2001 Afghanistan attacked by USA; Pakistan becomes the front-line ally in war against
terrorism. Country comes in wake of massive terrorist attacks that continued for next 13
years.
2002 Zaffurullah Jamali takes oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan after General Elections.

2004 Ch. Shujat Hussain assumes role of Prime minister of Pakistan for 3 months.

Shukat Aziz Takes oath of Prime minister of Pakistan.

2005 Norther parts of Country and AJK were badly effected by a massive earth quake.

2007 Benazir Bhutto was murdered.

Lal Masjid incident.

2008 Yousaf Raza Gillani takes oath as Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Pervaiz Musharaf resigns.

Asif Ali Zardari takes oath as president of Pakistan.

2010 Severe flooding effected almost all parts of country.

2013 Nawaz Sharif takes oath as Prime minister.

2018 Imran Khan takes oath as Prime minister.

Annex-ii- Pakistan’s HDI Score for different parameters Year 2019.

Pakistan
Indicator Score
Health
Life expectancy at birth (years) 67.3
Age-standardized mortality rate attributed to noncommunicable diseases, female 681
Age-standardized mortality rate attributed to noncommunicable diseases, male 744.4
Child malnutrition, stunting (moderate or severe) (% under age 5) 37.6
Current health expenditure (% of GDP) 2.9
HIV prevalence, adult (% ages 15-49) 0.1
Infants lacking immunization, DTP (% of one-year-olds) 14
Infants lacking immunization, measles (% of one-year-olds) 25
Life expectancy at birth, female (years) 68.3
Life expectancy at birth, male (years) 66.3
Life expectancy index 0.727
Malaria incidence (per 1,000 people at risk) 3.4
Mortality rate, female adult (per 1,000 people) 138
Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) 57.2
Mortality rate, male adult (per 1,000 people) 173
Mortality rate, under-five (per 1,000 live births) 69.3
Tuberculosis incidence (per 100,000 people) 265
Expected years of schooling (years) 8.3
Education
Education index 0.402
Expected years of schooling, female (years) 7.6
Expected years of schooling, male (years) 8.9
Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) 2.9
Gross enrolment ratio, pre-primary (% of preschool-age children) 83
Gross enrolment ratio, primary (% of primary school-age population) 94
Gross enrolment ratio, secondary (% of secondary school-age population) 43
Gross enrolment ratio, tertiary (% of tertiary school-age population) 9
Literacy rate, adult (% ages 15 and older) 59.1
Mean years of schooling (years) 5.2
Mean years of schooling, female (years) 3.8
Mean years of schooling, male (years) 6.3
Percentage of primary schools with access to the internet n.a.
Percentage of secondary schools with access to the internet n.a.
Population with at least some secondary education (% ages 25 and older) 37.3
Population with at least some secondary education, female (% ages 25 and older) 27.6
Population with at least some secondary education, male (% ages 25 and older) 45.7
Primary school dropout rate (% of primary school cohort) 29.6
Primary school teachers trained to teach (%) 78
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) score in mathematics n.a.
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) score in reading n.a.
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) score in science n.a.
Pupil-teacher ratio, primary school (pupils per teacher) 44
Survival rate to the last grade of lower secondary general education (%) 90
Income & Composition of Resources
Gross national income (GNI) per capita (constant 2017 PPP$) 5,005
Estimated gross national income per capita, female (2017 PPP $) 1,393
Estimated gross national income per capita, male (2017 PPP $) 8,412
GDP per capita (2017 PPP $) 4,690
1,015.8
Gross domestic product (GDP), total (2017 PPP $ billions) 0
Gross fixed capital formation (% of GDP) 14
Income index 0.591
Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection transfers (%) 42.2
Inequality-adjusted HDI (IHDI) 0.384
Coefficient of human inequality 30.2
Income inequality, Gini coefficient 33.5
Income inequality, quintile ratio 4.8
Income share held by poorest 40% 21.1
Income share held by richest 1% n.a.
Income share held by richest 10 % 28.9
Inequality
Inequality in education (%) 43.5
Inequality in income (%) 17.2
Inequality in life expectancy (%) 29.9
Inequality-adjusted education index 0.227
Inequality-adjusted income index 0.489
Inequality-adjusted life expectancy index 0.51
Overall loss in HDI due to inequality (%) 31.1
Gender Development
Gender Development Index (GDI) 0.745
Adolescent birth rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19) 38.8
Antenatal care coverage, at least one visit (%) 86.2
Contraceptive prevalence, any method (% of married or in-union women of reproductive age, 15–49
years) 34.2
Female share of employment in senior and middle management (%) 4.2
Gender Inequality Index (GII) 0.538
Human Development Index (HDI), female 0.456
Human Development Index (HDI), male 0.612
Mandatory paid maternity leave (days) 112
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live births) 140
Prevalence of female genital mutilation/cutting among girls and women (% of girls and young women
ages 15–49) n.a.
Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (%) 69.3
Share of employment in nonagriculture, female (% of total employment in nonagriculture) 11
Share of graduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes in tertiary
education who are female (%) n.a.
Share of graduates from science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes in tertiary
education who are male (%) n.a.
Share of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes at tertiary level,
female (%) n.a.
Share of graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics programmes at tertiary level,
male (%) n.a.
Share of seats held by women in local government (%) 16.9
Share of seats in parliament (% held by women) 20
Total unemployment rate (female to male ratio) 1.34

Unmet need for family planning (% of married or in-union women of reproductive age, 15–49 years) 17.3

Violence against women ever experienced, intimate partner (% of female population ages 15 and older) 24.5
Violence against women ever experienced, nonintimate partner (% of female population ages 15 and
older) n.a.
Women with account at financial institution or with mobile money-service provider (% of female
population ages 15 and older) 7
Youth unemployment rate (female to male ratio) 0.94
Poverty
Population in multidimensional poverty, headcount (%) 38.3
Contribution of deprivation in education to the Multidimensional Poverty Index 41.3
Contribution of deprivation in health to the Multidimensional Poverty Index 27.6
Contribution of deprivation in standard of living to the Multidimensional Poverty Index 31.1
Multidimensional poverty index (MPI) 0.198
Population in multidimensional poverty, headcount (thousands) (for the year of the survey) 81,352
Population in multidimensional poverty, headcount (thousands) (projection for 2018) 81,352
Population in multidimensional poverty, intensity of deprivation (%) 51.7
Population in severe multidimensional poverty (%) 21.5
Population living below income poverty line, national poverty line (%) 24.3
Population living below income poverty line, PPP $1.90 a day (%) 3.9
Population vulnerable to multidimensional poverty (%) 12.9
Working poor at PPP$3.20 a day (% of total employment) 27.2
Employment
Employment to population ratio (% ages 15 and older) 50.2
Child labor (% ages 5-17) 12.8
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) 36.7
Employment in services (% of total employment) 38
Labor force participation rate (% ages 15 and older) 52.6
Labor force participation rate (% ages 15 and older), female 21.9
Labor force participation rate (% ages 15 and older), male 81.7
Old-age pension recipients (% of statutory pension age population) 3
Proportion of informal employment in nonagricultural employment (% of total employment in
nonagricultural) 71.2
Proportion of informal employment in nonagricultural employment, female (% of total employment in
nonagricultural) 72.6
Unemployment, total (% of labor force) 4.5
Unemployment, youth (% ages 15–24) 8.9
Vulnerable employment (% of total employment) 55.5
Youth not in school or employment (% ages 15-24) 31.3
Human Security
Homicide rate (per 100,000 people) 3.9
Birth registration (% under age 5) 42
Homeless people due to natural disaster (average annual per million people) 66
Prison population (per 100,000 people) 39
Refugees by country of origin (thousands) 137.2
Suicide rate, female (per 100,000 people, age-standardized) 3.1
Suicide rate, male (per 100,000 people, age-standardized) 3
Trade and Financial Flows
Exports and imports (% of GDP) 30.4
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) 0.8
Net official development assistance received (% of GNI) 0.4
Private capital flows (% of GDP) -0.7
Remittances, inflows (% of GDP) 8.02
Mobility & Communication
Internet users, total (% of population) 15.5
International inbound tourists (thousands) 966
International student mobility (% of total tertiary enrolment) n.a.
Internet users, female (% of female population) 9.5
Mobile phone subscriptions (per 100 people) 72.6
Net migration rate (per 1,000 people) -1.1
Enviroment sustainability
Carbon dioxide emissions, production emissions per capita (tonnes) 1.1
Carbon dioxide emissions, per unit of GDP (kg per 2010 US$ of GDP) 0.19
Degraded land (% of total land area) 5
Domestic material consumption per capita, (tonnes) 4.4
Forest area (% of total land area) 1.9
Forest area, change (%) -43.5
Fossil fuel energy consumption (% of total energy consumption) 61.6
Fresh water withdrawals (% of total renewable water resources) 81
Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution (per 100,000 population, age-
standardized) 174
Mortality rate attributed to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene services (per 100,000 population) 19.6
Natural resource depletion (% of GNI) 1
Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters (per 100,000 population) 0.1
Red List Index (value) 0.859
Use of fertilizer nutrient nitrogen (N), per area of cropland (kg per hectare) 110.1
Use of fertilizer nutrient phosphorus (expressed as P2O5), per area of cropland (kg per hectare) 40.2
Socio economic stability
Skilled labour force (% of labour force) 27.8
Adjusted net savings (% of GNI) 4
Average annual change in the share of bottom 40% (%) -0.2
Concentration index (exports) (value) 0.204
Gross capital formation (% of GDP) 15.6
Overall loss in HDI value due to inequality, average annual change (%) -0.1
Population using safely managed drinking-water services (%) 35
Population using safely managed sanitation services (%) n.a.
Ratio of education and health expenditure to military expenditure 1.5
Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) 0.2
Rural population with access to electricity (%) 54.4
Total debt service (% of exports of goods, services and primary income) 19.9
Annexure-iii- Comparative analysis between Pakistan, India & Bangladesh from 1990
onwards.

a. Population growth.
b. Life expectancy at birth.

c. Infant mortality rate

d. Imports of Goods, services USD.

e. Remitances