Economy of Pakistan

Economy of Pakistan
	Karachi, the financial hub of Pakistan
Currency	Pakistani rupee (₨) (PKR)
Fiscal year	1 July – 30 June
Trade organisations	ECO, SAFTA, WTO, AIIB, ADB, and others
Country group	Developing economy; Lower-middle income economy;
Statistics
Population	241,499,431 (5th, 2023 Census)
GDP	$374.6 billion (nominal; 2024); $1.572 trillion (PPP; 2023);
GDP rank	46th (nominal; 2023); 24th (PPP; 2023);
GDP growth	6.2% (FY 2022); -0.2% (FY 2023); 2.4% (FY 2024);
GDP per capita	$1,587 (nominal; 2024); $6,791 (PPP; 2023 est.);
GDP per capita rank	161st (nominal; 2023); 138th (PPP; 2023 est.);
GDP by sector	Agriculture: 23.17%; Industry: 18.41%; Services: 58.42%; (FY 2023);
GDP by component	Household consumption: 82.0%; Government consumption: 11.3%; Investment in fixed capital: 14.5%; Investment in inventories: 1.6%; Exports of goods and services: 8.2%; Imports of goods and services: −17.6%; (2017 est.);
Inflation (CPI)	4.9% (November 2024 YoY) ;
Base borrowing rate	15.00% (Nov 2024)
Population below poverty line	35.7% on less than $3.20/day (2021); 5% in extreme poverty (2022); 8% (rural) ; 0.3% (urban);
Gini coefficient	31.6 medium (2018, World Bank)
Human Development Index	0.540 low (2022) (164th); 0.360 low IHDI (2022, 134th);
Labour force	Total 71.76 million; Employed 67.25 million (2021);
Labour force by occupation	Agriculture: 37.4%; Industry: 25.4%; Services: 37.2%; (2021);
Unemployment	8% (2024); 6.82 million unemployed (2024);
Main industries	Textiles; Apparel; Food processing; Pharmaceuticals; Surgical instruments; Construction materials; Fertilizer; Shrimp; Paper products;
External
Exports	$38.896 billion (FY 2024)
Export goods	Textiles: $16,301 million; Food: $7,082 million; Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals: $1,421 million; Leather goods: $877 million; Sports goods: $439 million; Petroleum: $553 million;
Main export partners	United States 17.5%; China 8.7%; United Arab Emirates 6.7%; United Kingdom 6.5%; Germany 4.9%; Spain 4.7%; Netherlands 4.4%; Italy 3.6%; (2024 est.);
Imports	$63.286 billion (FY 2024)
Import goods	Petroleum: 15,162 million; Agriculture and other chemicals: $8,944 million; Machinery: $7,406 million; Food: $7,111 million; Metal: $4,668 million; Textile: $3,890 million; Transport: $1,621 million;
Main import partners	China 25.4%; United Arab Emirates 11.9%; Saudi Arabia 8.5%; Singapore 4.6%; Indonesia 4.5%; United States 3.6%; Kuwait 3.4%; Russia 2.0%; (2024 est.);
FDI stock	$31.540 billion; Abroad: $1.870 billion (31 Dec 2021);
Current account	-2.557 billion US$ (FY 2023)
Gross external debt	$125.7 billion (Mar 2023)
Public finances
Government debt	61.4% of GDP (Jun 2024)
Budget balance	−6.8% of GDP (FY 2024)
Revenues	12.5% of GDP; 13,269 billion PKR or $47 billion (FY 2024)
Expenses	19.3% of GDP; 20,476 billion PKR $72 billion (FY 2024)
Economic aid	$2.6983 billion (2021)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:; CCC+ (Long term); C (Short term); Outlook: Stable; Moody's:; Caa2; Outlook: Positive; Fitch:; CCC+ (July 2024); Outlook: Positive;
Foreign reserves	$16.05bn (25 Oct 2024)
	All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Pakistan is categorized as a developing economy. It ranks as the 24th-largest based on GDP using purchasing power parity (PPP) and the 46th largest in terms of nominal GDP. With a population of 241.5 million people as of 2023, Pakistan's position at per capita income ranks 161st by GDP (nominal) and 138th by GDP (PPP) according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).^[5]

In its early years, Pakistan's economy relied heavily on private industries. The nationalization of a significant portion of the sector, including financial services, manufacturing, and transportation, began in the early 1970s under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. During Zia-ul Haq's regime in the 1980s, an "Islamic" economy was adopted, outlawing economic practices forbidden in Sharīʿah and mandating traditional religious practices. The economy started privatizing again in the 1990s.

The economic growth centers in Pakistan are located along the Indus River;^[38]^[39] these include the diversified economies of Karachi and major urban centers in Punjab (such as Faisalabad, Lahore, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, and Gujranwala), alongside less developed areas in other parts of the country.^[38] In recent decades, regional connectivity initiatives such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have emerged as pivotal contributors to infrastructure and energy development, with long-term implications for economic stability. Pakistan was classified as a semi-industrial economy for the first time in the late 1990s, albeit an underdeveloped country^[40] with a heavy dependence on agriculture, particularly the textile industry relying on cotton production.^[41]^[38]^[42] Primary export commodities include textiles, leather goods, sports equipment, chemicals, and carpets/rugs.^[43]^[44]

Pakistan is presently undergoing economic liberalization, including the privatization of all government corporations, aimed at attracting foreign investment and reducing budget deficits.^[45] However, the country continues to grapple with challenges such as a rapidly growing population, high illiteracy, political instability, a hostile neighborhood, and heavy foreign debt.

Economic history

Inception

In the late 1940s, upon its establishment, Pakistan had an agrarian-based economy. Agriculture constituted 53% of the country's GDP in 1947 and slightly increased to 53.2% in 1949–50. With a population of approximately 30 million, including around 6 million residing in urban areas, about 65% of the labor force was engaged in agriculture. The agricultural sector played a crucial role, contributing to 99.2% of exports and making up nearly 90% of foreign exchange earnings.

Despite possessing significant land and mineral resources in both East and West Pakistan, including natural gas, crude oil, coal, limestone, and marble, Pakistan faced numerous challenges. In 1950, its per capita income was around $360 (in 1985 international dollars), and the literacy rate was only 10%. The nation encountered a lack of economic infrastructure, financial resources, and an industrial foundation, particularly with poverty rates ranging from 55% to 60% in the West Pakistan region.

Due to limited capital in the small private sector, the government opted to focus on the public sector to foster economic and industrial development. In the fiscal year 1949–50, Pakistan recorded a national savings rate of 2%, a foreign savings rate of 2%, and an investment rate of 4%. Manufacturing contributed 7.8% to the GDP, while services, trade, and other sectors accounted for a significant 39%, reflecting a policy centered around import-substituting industrialization. The trade balance of payments indicated a deficit of 66 million Rupees (Rs) during the period spanning 1949/50 to 1950/51.^[46]

1950s

The 1950s marked the initiation of planned development in Pakistan, with the introduction of the Colombo Plan in 1951 leading to a series of Five-Year Plans from 1955 to 1998. Concurrently, a Ten-Year Perspective Plan was implemented, complemented by a rolling Three-Year Development Plan.

During the 1950s, Pakistan pursued a policy of import-substituting industrialization. Notably, the Korean War (1950–1953) brought substantial merchant profits to Pakistan's public and emerging private sectors, fueling industrialization.

In 1952, Pakistan imposed bans on the imports of cotton textiles and luxury goods, followed by comprehensive import regulations in 1953, propelling the country into the ranks of the fastest-growing nations. However, biased policies against agriculture and unfavorable trade terms between agriculture and industry led to a decline in the annual growth rate of agriculture.

By the late 1950s, Pakistan achieved self-sufficiency in cotton textiles, emphasizing export development. The influx of US military and economic aid amounting to US$500 million during 1955–58 contributed to Pakistan's growth reliant on foreign aid.

In 1959, after a military coup d'état in 1958, the martial law regime introduced export bonus vouchers as import licenses and exempted certain goods from licensing. During this period, Pakistan faced a worsening trade balance, with deficits increasing from −831 million Rupees in 1950/51 to −1043 million Rupees in 1959/60.

Economically, agriculture grew at an annual rate of 1.6%, while manufacturing expanded impressively at 7.7% per annum during the 1950s. In the fiscal year 1959–60, the Per Capita Gross National Product (GNP) stood at Rs. 355 in West Pakistan and Rs. 269 in East Pakistan, indicating a growing economic disparity between the two regions.^[46]

1960s

In the 1960s, amid a substantial influx of American aid, Pakistan enjoyed political stability, fostering robust economic growth. Poverty, measured by the poverty headcount ratio, fluctuated from nearly 50% in the early 1960s to 54% in 1963–64.

During the 1960s, Pakistan achieved an impressive annual agricultural growth rate of 5%, driven by substantial investments in water resources, increased farmer incentives, mechanization, greater use of fertilizers and pesticides, and expanded cultivation of high-yielding rice and wheat varieties in the Green Revolution.

Large-scale manufacturing experienced significant growth, expanding at a remarkable rate of 16% per annum from 1960/61 to 1964/65, fueled by protective measures for domestic industries, including export subsidies.

However, the Pakistan-India War of 1965 led to reduced foreign economic assistance, impacting the growth rate of large-scale manufacturing. From 1965–70, this sector grew at a comparatively lower rate of 10% per annum.

Despite challenges, Pakistan achieved an impressive average annual GDP growth rate of 6.7% throughout the 1960s. In the fiscal year 1969–70, the poverty incidence rate decreased to 46%. Per Capita GNP was Rs. 504 in West Pakistan and Rs. 314 in East Pakistan, indicating a widening regional economic disparity.^[46]

1970s

The economic landscape in the early 1970s witnessed growing disparities between East and West Pakistan, leading to East Pakistan's declaration of independence and the emergence of Bangladesh in 1971. Subsequently, Pakistan underwent notable transformations in both its political and economic spheres.

Under martial law authorities, amidst challenging macroeconomic conditions, the socialist Pakistan People's Party gained empowerment. This period grappled with numerous economic challenges, including a surge in poverty incidence to 55% during 1971–72. Pakistan also confronted heightened import costs due to the global oil price shock in October 1973, a severe global recession from 1974 to 1977, cotton sector failures in 1974–75, pest infestations affecting crops, and massive floods in 1973, 1974, and 1976–77.

One significant economic issue during this time was high inflation, with prices increasing by an average of 15% per annum between 1972 and 1977. The fiscal deficit/GDP ratio averaged 8.1% during 1973–77, indicating substantial fiscal challenges. Trade imbalances were apparent, with trade deficits rising from US$337 million in 1970–71 to US$1,184 million in 1976–77.

The military coup d'état of 1977, leading to the establishment of a martial law regime that initiated denationalization, deregulation, and privatization policies. Agriculture experienced modest growth at a rate of 2.4% per annum, while large-scale manufacturing expanded at a rate of 5.5% per annum during the 1970s.

Large and medium-scale private manufacturing played a significant role, contributing 75% of the total value-added and investment in manufacturing during the 1970s. The remaining 25% of value-added came from small-scale manufacturing.

Overall, this period was marked by significant political and economic changes, driven by challenges posed by economic disparities, political shifts, and efforts to address issues such as inflation, fiscal deficits, and trade imbalances.^[46]

1980s

The 1980s brought substantial changes to Pakistan's economic landscape, moving away from the nationalization policies of the 1970s and fostering private sector industrial investment, which greatly contributed to robust economic growth. Notable developments in this era included a drop in the poverty headcount ratio to 29.1% in 1986–87, showcasing a decline in poverty incidence. The unemployment rate exhibited a positive trend, decreasing from 3.7% in 1980 to 2.6% in 1990.

Between 1985 and 1988, the government endeavored to implement an Islamic interest-free banking system, introducing business partnerships based on profit and loss sharing. The national savings/GDP ratio reached a notable 16% in 1986–87, largely due to significant worker remittances from the Middle East. Despite this growth, challenges emerged, including negative public savings and a declining public investment/GDP ratio throughout the 1980s.

To address increasing budget deficits in the early 1980s, the government heavily relied on non-bank domestic borrowing, resulting in substantial domestic debt growth. Consequently, the public debt/GDP ratio surged to 77.1% in 1988, 81.9% in 1989, and 82.6% in 1990, leading to significant interest payments and persistent fiscal deficits.

In 1985, democracy was restored in Pakistan, marking a pivotal political development. The country experienced a commendable average annual GDP growth rate of 6.3% between 1980 and 1990. The 1980s saw a surge in manufacturing exports, with an annual large-scale manufacturing growth rate of 8.8%, and solid growth in agriculture, with an annual agricultural growth rate of 5.4%.

These highlights underscore a transformative and recovering economic period in the 1980s, characterized by a shift in economic policies, improved fiscal performance, and substantial progress in poverty reduction and employment. The era also witnessed efforts to align financial practices with Islamic principles and significant economic growth in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors.^[46]

1990s

The 1990s posed a formidable economic landscape for Pakistan, marked by a series of challenges and developments. Declining worker remittances and escalating external deficits set the tone for economic strains. Simultaneously, the decade witnessed the second-worst inflation in Pakistan's history, driven by diminishing GDP growth rates. Unemployment surged, reaching 5.9% in 1991 and escalating further to 7.2% in 2000.

Pakistan's external debt tripled, soaring to US$30 billion by 1995. The external debt/GDP ratio rose from 42% to 50%, accompanied by increases in the external debt/exports ratio (from 209% to 258%) and the debt service ratio (from 18% to 27%). A deteriorating external debt profile led to a rise in domestic debt, reaching Rs. 909 billion, and a domestic debt/GDP ratio of 42%.

The late 1990s witnessed a severe debt crisis, with the public debt/GDP ratio skyrocketing from 57.5% in 1975–77 to 102% in 1998–99. The public debt/revenues ratio surged to 624%, and the interest payments/revenues ratio reached 42.6%, rendering Pakistan's public debt unsustainable. Concerns over external debt default emerged in 1996 and 1998, triggered by Western economic sanctions in response to Pakistan's nuclear tests in May 1998, causing massive capital flight.

Despite these challenges, Pakistan managed to sustain an agricultural growth rate of 4.4% per annum and a large-scale manufacturing growth rate of 4.8% per annum throughout the 1990s. However, the era witnessed a significant increase in poverty incidence, reaching 30.6% in 1998–99. The decade encapsulated a complex economic narrative, as Pakistan navigated external debt burdens, fiscal imbalances, inflation, and rising unemployment. Amid these difficulties, there were positive aspects, including growth in key sectors like agriculture and manufacturing. Nonetheless, the 1990s also brought forth a looming threat of debt default, magnified by economic sanctions in response to nuclear tests.^[46]

2000s

The 2000s witnessed a period of substantial economic challenges and transformations for Pakistan. The impact of high public debt gained prominence, identified by the official Debt Reduction and Management Committee in 2001, contributing to a decline in the growth rate to less than 4% per annum. Despite an initial upturn in the growth rate, the decade unfolded with persistent macroeconomic crises. Although achieving a noteworthy growth rate of 8.6% in 2004–05, subsequent years were marred by a series of setbacks, including a growth slowdown, low growth, high inflation, an energy crisis, and worsening fiscal and balance of payments positions.

The economic landscape reflected the complexities faced by the population, illustrated by a rise in poverty incidence to 34.5% in 2000–01. However, a subsequent decrease to 22.3% in 2005–06 offered a nuanced perspective on the decade's economic trajectory. The unemployment rate saw fluctuations, rising to 7.8% in 2002 but later declining to 5% by 2008.

Efforts to enhance education and literacy rates were evident as adult literacy stood at 55% in 2007–08. Nevertheless, challenges persisted, and economic crises hit Pakistan in 2008, primarily influenced by the 2007–2008 financial crisis. Despite these adversities, economic growth in 2009–2010 reached a respectable 4.1%, with positive contributions from various sectors, including a 2% growth in agriculture, 4.9% growth in industrial output, 4.4% growth in large-scale manufacturing, and a 4.6% expansion in the services sector.

By March 2010, public debt had accumulated to Rs. 8,160 billion, with a total public debt/GDP ratio of 56% and a foreign-currency denominated debt/GDP ratio of 25%. Amid these economic dynamics, Pakistan underwent a structural transition. The GDP share of agriculture declined from 53% in 1947 to 21.2% in 2010, while the GDP share of industry rose from 9.6% in 1949–50 to 25.4% in 2010. Additionally, the GDP share of the services sector increased from 37.2% in 1950 to 53.4% in 2010. The 2000s encapsulated a multifaceted economic narrative for Pakistan, marked by challenges, crises, and significant structural shifts, reflecting the nation's resilience and adaptability.^[46]

Data

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The table below displays key economic indicators from 1980 to 2022. Inflation rates below 5% are highlighted in green.^[5]

Year	GDP (Billion US$ PPP)	GDP per capita (US$ PPP)	GDP (Billion US$ nominal)	GDP per capita (US$ nominal)	GDP growth (Real)	Inflation rate (Percent)	Unemployment (Percent)	Government debt (% of GDP)
1980	79.0	950.0	34.8	418.9	7.3%	11.9%	n/a	n/a
1981	91.8	1,072.8	41.2	481.3	6.4%	11.9%	n/a	n/a
1982	104.9	1,190.0	45.0	511.0	7.6%	5.9%	n/a	n/a
1983	116.4	1,283.6	42.0	463.7	6.8%	6.4%	3.9%	n/a
1984	125.4	1,345.3	45.6	489.8	4.0%	6.1%	3.8%	n/a
1985	140.6	1,468.4	45.6	476.7	8.7%	5.6%	3.7%	n/a
1986	152.5	1,551.3	46.7	475.3	6.4%	3.5%	3.3%	n/a
1987	165.4	1,638.5	48.8	483.9	5.8%	4.7%	3.1%	n/a
1988	182.2	1,759.4	56.3	543.1	6.4%	8.8%	3.1%	n/a
1989	198.5	1,868.3	58.7	552.0	4.8%	7.9%	3.1%	n/a
1990	215.4	1,970.1	58.9	538.4	4.6%	9.1%	3.1%	n/a
1991	234.1	2,094.8	66.9	598.4	5.4%	12.6%	5.9%	n/a
1992	257.5	2,211.1	71.5	614.2	7.6%	4.8%	5.9%	n/a
1993	269.2	2,252.4	75.7	633.6	2.1%	9.8%	4.7%	n/a
1994	286.9	2,341.1	76.3	622.8	4.4%	11.3%	4.8%	64.8%
1995	307.8	2,449.6	89.2	709.9	5.1%	13.0%	5.4%	58.0%
1996	334.1	2,594.8	93.1	723.5	6.6%	10.8%	5.4%	58.2%
1997	345.6	2,620.8	91.8	696.4	1.7%	12.8%	6.1%	58.5%
1998	361.7	2,678.9	91.4	677.0	3.5%	6.8%	5.9%	59.5%
1999	382.2	2,765.6	86.6	626.5	4.2%	5.7%	5.9%	67.2%
2000	406.1	2,855.1	89.7	630.3	3.9%	3.6%	7.8%	68.4%
2001	423.4	2,916.7	87.4	602.0	3.7%	4.4%	7.8%	72.2%
2002	443.4	2,995.0	87.9	593.9	2.4%	3.5%	8.3%	67.6%
2003	473.5	3,119.8	101.1	666.1	5.6%	3.1%	8.3%	62.7%
2004	522.6	3,376.5	118.8	767.8	7.7%	4.6%	7.7%	56.3%
2005	587.3	3,722.9	132.8	842.0	7.5%	9.3%	7.7%	52.3%
2006	640.6	3,986.8	154.5	961.4	5.6%	7.9%	6.2%	48.4%
2007	694.4	4,244.6	171.5	1,048.4	5.5%	7.8%	5.2%	47.1%
2008	743.0	4,362.9	191.4	1,124.0	5.0%	12.0%	5.2%	51.9%
2009	750.5	4,314.4	189.0	1,186.5	0.4%	19.6%	5.5%	52.8%
2010	779.1	4,386.4	199.4	1,122.7	2.6%	10.1%	6.0%	54.5%
2011	824.1	4,545.1	240.4	1,325.8	3.6%	13.7%	6.0%	52.8%
2012	847.1	4,577.9	252.5	1,364.8	3.8%	11.0%	6.0%	56.7%
2013	883.4	4,679.4	260.3	1,378.6	3.7%	7.4%	6.0%	57.9%
2014	931.7	4,838.4	275.1	1,428.4	4.1%	8.6%	6.0%	57.1%
2015	981.6	4,998.5	304.5	1,550.5	4.1%	4.5%	5.9%	57.0%
2016	1,010.7	5,048.9	313.6	1,566.6	4.6%	2.9%	5.9%	60.8%
2017	1,058.5	5,159.0	339.2	1,653.4	4.6%	4.1%	5.8%	60.9%
2018	1,150.0	5,482.7	356.2	1,698.0	6.1%	3.9%	5.8%	64.8%
2019	1,207.1	5,642.1	321.1	1,500.7	3.1%	6.7%	6.9%	77.5%
2020	1,211.4	5,550.6	300.4	1,376.5	-0.9%	10.7%	6.6%	79.6%
2021	1,338.8	6,014.7	348.5	1,565.6	5.8%	8.9%	6.3%	73.5%
2022	1,520.0	6,693.7	374.7	1650.7	6.2%	12.1%	6.2%	76.2%
2023	1,572.4	6,790.9	338.2	1,460.7	-0.2	29.2%	8.5%	77.1%

Stock market

In the first four years of the twenty-first century, Pakistan's KSE 100 Index was declared the best-performing stock market index in the world by the international magazine "Business Week".^[47]^{[citation needed]} The stock market capitalization of listed companies in Pakistan was valued at $5,937 million in 2005 by the World Bank.^[48] On 11 January 2016, with the aim of reducing market fragmentation and creating a strong case for attracting strategic partnerships necessary for providing technological expertise, all three stock exchanges, including Karachi Stock Exchange, Lahore Stock Exchange, and Islamabad Stock Exchange, were inducted into a unified Pakistan Stock Exchange.^[49]

In May 2017, the American provider of stock market indexes and analysis tools, MSCI, confirmed that the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) had been reclassified from Frontier Markets to Emerging Markets in its semi-annual index review.^[50] The Pakistan Stock Exchange also successfully navigated through the initial COVID-19 induced economic downturn and earned the title of being the 'best Asian stock market and fourth best-performing market across the world in 2020.' The PSE-100 index continued to climb throughout the year. Nearly 40 percent growth in the PSE-100 Index in FY 2021 was driven by the government's large stimulus package, the central bank's stable policy rate, an uptick in large scale manufacturing, improvement in external accounts, and reforms introduced by the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) and PSX in the wake of the COVID-19.^[51]

PSX 100 index growth rate^[52]

List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
PSX 100 index growth %	-10.8	-41.7	35.7	28.5	10.4	52.2	41.2	16.0	9.8	23.2	-10.0	-19.1	1.5	37.6	-12.3	-0.2	61.6

The sales of all non-financial companies surged to Rs 16,815 billion in the fiscal year 2023, marking a substantial increase of Rs 1,864 billion compared to the preceding year. Although, the net profit margin of all companies declined to 5.98% in FY23 from 6.34% in FY22. Return on assets (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) of all companies also dropped to 6.05 percent and 17.76 percent respectively in FY23. The key statistics for the last 6 years of all public and private non-financial companies listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange are provided in the following table:^[53]

Financial Analysis of Companies (Non-Financial) (Billion Rupees)
List	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total Assets	8,811	10,097	10,755	12,201	15,685	17,549
Total Liabilities	5,574	6,610	7,029	7,869	10,568	11,346
Total Sales	7,662	8,811	7,999	9,437	14,568	16,815
Profit Before Tax	608	612	480	1,011	1,439	1,624
Profit After Tax	427	413	320	749	924	1,005
%
Net Profit Margin	5.57	4.68	4.00	7.93	6.34	5.98
Return on Assets	5.19	4.36	3.07	6.52	6.63	6.05
Return on Equity	13.65	12.27	8.87	18.59	19.56	17.76
earnings per share	4.43	4.17	3.15	7.07	8.31	8.32

Middle class

As of 2017^[update], according to Wall Street Journal, citing estimates largely based on income and the purchase of consumption goods, had suggested that as many as 42% of Pakistan's population may now belong to the upper and middle classes. If these numbers are correct, or even indicative in any broad sense, then 87 million Pakistanis belong to the middle and upper classes, a population size which is larger than that of Germany.^[54] Official figures also show that the proportion of households that own a motorcycle and washing machines has grown impressively over the past 15 years.^[55] Furthermore, the IBA-SBP Consumer Confidence Index recorded its highest-ever level of 174.9 points in January 2017, showing an increase of 17 points from July 2016.

Separately, consumer financing recorded at Rs. 179 billion during FY 2022. Auto finance continued to be the dominant segment, followed by house building, which showed remarkable growth after the Mera Pakistan Mera Ghar scheme initiated by the State Bank of Pakistan in December 2020. Under the scheme, 100 billion rupees have been disbursed by the banks until 30 June 2022. The total amount approved by banks reached Rs. 236 billion, while the requested amount crossed half a trillion rupees.^[54]^[56]

Poverty alleviation expenditures

The Pakistan government spent over 1 trillion rupees (about $16.7 billion) on poverty alleviation programs during the past four years, reducing poverty from 35% in 2000–01 to 29.3% in 2013 and further to 17% in 2015.^[57] Rural poverty remains a pressing issue, as development in those areas has been significantly slower than in major urban areas.

Employment

The high population growth in the past few decades has led to a significant number of young people entering the labor market. Although Pakistan is among the six most populous Asian nations, excessive red tape in the past made firing from jobs, and consequently hiring, difficult.^[58] Significant progress in taxation and business reforms has ensured that many firms are no longer compelled to operate in the underground economy.^[59]

Government revenues and expenditures

Although the country is a Federation with constitutional division of taxation powers between the Federal Government and the four provinces, the revenue department of the Federal Government, the Federal Board of Revenue, collects more than 80% of the entire national tax collection. The government's revenue streams primarily stem from two sources: taxation and non-tax revenue. Taxation, which includes income tax, sales tax, and customs duties, constitutes a substantial portion of revenues, bolstering both federal and provincial government finances. Non-tax revenue sources, such as mark-up from state enterprises, surplus profits from the State Bank of Pakistan, and royalties on oil and gas, further contribute significantly to the fiscal framework.

Conversely, government expenditures are strategically allocated across multiple sectors, including defense, social services, infrastructure development, and debt servicing. Current expenditures, covering operational costs, interest payments, pensions, and other obligations, are carefully balanced against development expenditures aimed at fostering long-term growth and progress. The challenge of achieving equilibrium between revenue generation and expenditure allocation leads to budgetary deficits that can necessitate borrowing to bridge the gap.

The data has been sourced from the Ministry of Finance.^[60]

Consolidated Federal and Provincial Fiscal Operations (Amounts in billion PKR)
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY2024
Total Revenue	1,499	1,851	2,078	2,253	2,567	2,982	3,637	3,931	4,447	4,937	5,228	4,901	6,272	6,903	8,035	9,634	13,269
Tax Revenue	1,065	1,317	1,473	1,699	2,053	2,199	2,565	3,018	3,660	3,969	4,467	4,473	4,748	5,272	6,755	7,819	10,085
FBR Taxes	1,008	1,161	1,327	1,558	1,883	1,946	2,255	2,590	3,113	3,368	3,842	3,830	3,998	4,764	6,143	7,169	9,311
Total Expenditure	2,277	2,531	3,007	3,447	3,936	4,816	5,026	5,388	5,796	6,801	7,488	8,346	9,649	10,307	13,295	16,155	20,476
Fiscal Deficit	777	680	929	1,194	1,370	1,834	1,389	1,457	1,349	1,864	2,260	3,445	3,376	3,403	5,260	6,521	7,207
As % of GDP
Total Revenue	14.1	14.0	14.0	12.3	12.8	13.3	14.5	14.3	13.6	13.9	13.3	11.2	13.2	12.4	12.0	11.4	12.5
Tax Revenue	9.9	9.1	9.9	9.3	10.2	9.8	10.2	11.0	10.4	10.4	10.8	9.7	9.3	9.4	10.1	9.2	9.5
Total Expenditure	21.4	19.2	20.2	18.9	21.4	21.5	20.0	19.6	17.7	19.1	19.1	19.1	20.3	18.5	19.9	19.1	19.3
Fiscal Deficit	7.3	5.2	6.2	6.5	8.8	8.2	5.5	5.3	4.1	5.2	5.8	7.9	7.1	6.1	7.9	7.7	6.8

Currency system

Rupee

The basic unit of currency is the rupee, ISO code PKR, and abbreviated Rs, which is divided into 100 paisas. Currently, the 5,000 rupee note is the largest denomination in circulation. From 13 August 2005, the SBP started introducing its fifth generation design of banknotes with additional security features, with the Rs. 20 note being the first issuance. New designs of Rs. 5 (July 2008, later replaced by a coin), 10 (May 2006), Rs. 20 (March 2008, new color scheme), Rs. 50 (July 2008), Rs. 100 (November 2006), Rs. 500 (January 2010), Rs. 1000 (February 2007), and Rs. 5000 (May 2006) were gradually introduced.^[61]^[62]^[63]

The Pakistani rupee was pegged to the pound sterling until 1982, when the government of General Zia-ul-Haq, changed it to a managed float regime. As a result, the rupee devalued by 38.5% between 1982/83, and many of the industries built by his predecessor suffered a huge surge in import costs. After years of appreciation under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and despite huge increases in foreign aid, the rupee depreciated.

Foreign exchange rate

The Pakistani rupee depreciated against the US dollar until around the start of the 21st century, when Pakistan's large current-account surplus pushed the value of the rupee up versus the dollar. Pakistan's central bank then stabilized by lowering interest rates and buying dollars, in order to preserve the country's export competitiveness.

US$ to PKR average exchange rates^[64]
2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
62.55	78.50	83.80	85.50	89.23	96.73	102.86	101.29	104.23	104.70	109.84	136.09	158.02	160.02	177.45	248.04	282.91

Foreign exchange reserves

Pakistan maintains foreign reserves with the State Bank of Pakistan. The currency of the reserves was solely the US dollar, incurring speculated losses after the dollar prices fell during 2005, forcing the then Governor SBP Ishrat Hussain to step down. In the same year, the SBP issued an official statement proclaiming diversification of reserves in currencies including Euro and Yen, withholding the ratio of diversification.

Following the international credit crisis and spikes in crude oil prices, Pakistan's economy could not withstand the pressure, and on 11 October 2008, the State Bank of Pakistan reported that the country's foreign exchange reserves had gone down by $571.9 million to $7,749.7 million.^[65] The foreign exchange reserves had declined by more than $10 billion to a level of $6.59 billion. In June 2013, Pakistan was on the brink of default on its financial commitments. The country's forex reserves were at a historic low, covering only two weeks' worth of imports. In January 2020, Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves stood at US$11.503 billion.^[66]

Amounts in Billion US dollars^[67]^[68]
List	Jun 2008	Jun 2009	Jun 2010	Jun 2011	Jun 2012	Jun 2013	Jun 2014	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Jun 2017	Jun 2018	Jun 2019	Jun 2020	Jun 2021	Jun 2022	Jun 2023	Jun 2024
Total Reserves	11.4	12.4	16.8	18.2	15.3	11.0	14.1	18.7	23.1	21.4	16.4	14.5	18.9	24.4	15.5	9.2	14.0
SBP Reserves	8.6	9.1	13.0	14.8	10.8	6.0	9.1	13.5	18.1	16.1	9.8	7.3	12.1	17.3	9.9	4.5	9.4
Banks Reserves	2.8	3.3	3.8	3.5	4.5	5.0	5.0	5.2	5.0	5.3	6.6	7.2	6.8	7.1	5.6	4.7	4.6

Structure of economy

Agriculture accounted for about 53% of the GDP in 1947. While per-capita agricultural output has grown since then, it has been outpaced by the growth of the non-agricultural sectors, and the share of agriculture has dropped to roughly one-fifth of Pakistan's economy. In recent years, the country has seen rapid growth in industries, such as apparel, textiles, and cement, and services, such as telecommunications, transportation, advertising, and finance.

Sectoral Shares % in GDP (at constant basic prices)^[69]
Sectors	FY 2000	FY 2005	FY 2010	FY 2015	FY 2020	FY 2024
Agricultural	31.75	28.15	25.89	24.83	23.53	24.04
Industrial	16.73	19.01	19.04	19.11	18.53	18.22
Services	51.52	52.84	55.07	56.06	57.94	57.74

Major sectors

Agriculture

The majority of the population, directly or indirectly, is dependent on this sector, contributing about 23.0% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and accounting for 37.4% of the employed labor force in 2021. It is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings.^[70] The most important crops are wheat, sugarcane, cotton, and rice, accounting for more than 75% of the value of total crop output. Pakistan's largest food crop is wheat. In 2017, Pakistan produced 26,674,000 tonnes of wheat, almost equal to all of Africa (27.1 million tonnes) and more than all of South America (25.9 million tonnes), according to the FAOSTAT.^[71] In the market year of 2018/19, Pakistan exported a record 4.5 million tonnes of rice compared to around 4 MMT during the corresponding period in the previous year.^[72]

Pakistan is a net food exporter, except in occasional years when its harvest is adversely affected by droughts. Pakistan exports rice, cotton, fish, fruits (especially Oranges and Mangoes), and vegetables and imports vegetable oil, wheat, pulses, and consumer foods.^[73] The economic importance of agriculture has declined since independence when its share of GDP was around 53%. Following the poor harvest of 1993, the government introduced agriculture assistance policies, including increased support prices for many agricultural commodities and expanded availability of agricultural credit. From 1993 to 1997, real growth in the agricultural sector averaged 5.7% but has since declined to about 4%. Agricultural reforms, including increased wheat and oilseed production, play a central role in the government's economic reform package.

% growth^[52]^[74]
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Agriculture sector	0.81	3.41	0.31	2.71	3.23	3.14	2.42	1.78	0.41	2.22	3.88	0.94	3.91	3.52	4.21	2.27	6.25
Production of Important Crops (Million Tonnes)
Wheat	20.9	24.0	23.3	25.2	23.5	24.2	26.0	25.1	25.6	26.7	25.1	24.3	25.2	27.5	26.2	28.2	31.4
Rice	5.6	6.9	6.9	4.8	6.2	5.6	6.8	7.0	6.8	6.8	7.5	7.2	7.4	8.4	9.3	7.3	9.9
Sugarcane	63.9	50.0	49.4	55.3	58.4	63.8	67.5	62.8	65.5	75.5	83.3	67.2	66.4	81.0	88.7	88.0	87.6
Cotton *	11.7	11.8	12.9	11.5	13.6	13.0	12.8	14.0	9.9	10.7	11.9	9.9	9.1	7.1	8.3	4.9	10.2
Maize	3.6	3.6	3.3	3.7	4.3	4.2	5.0	4.9	5.3	6.1	5.9	6.8	7.9	8.9	9.5	11.0	9.8

* Cotton production in million bales.

Pakistan's principal natural resources are arable land and water. About 25% of Pakistan's total land area is under cultivation and is watered by one of the largest irrigation systems in the world. Pakistan irrigates three times more acres than Russia. Pakistan agriculture also benefits from year-round warmth. Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited is the largest financial institution geared towards the development of the agriculture sector through the provision of financial services and technical expertise.

Industry

Pakistan's industrial sector accounts for approximately 19.12% of GDP.^[69] In 2021, it recorded a growth of 7.81%, compared to the negative 5.75% in 2020.^[74] The government is privatizing large-scale industrial units, and the public sector accounts for a shrinking proportion of industrial output, while growth in overall industrial output (including the private sector) has accelerated. Government policies aim to diversify the country's industrial base and bolster export industries. Large Scale Manufacturing is the fastest-growing sector in the Pakistani economy.^[75] Major Industries include textiles, fertiliser, cement, oil refineries, dairy products, food processing, beverages, construction materials, clothing, paper products, and shrimp.

In Pakistan, SMEs have a significant contribution to the total GDP of Pakistan. According to SMEDA and Economic survey reports, the share in the annual GDP is 40%, with SMEs generating significant employment opportunities for skilled workers and entrepreneurs. Small and medium-scale firms represent nearly 90% of all enterprises in Pakistan and employ 80% of the non-agricultural labor force. These figures indicate the potential and further growth in this sector.

**% growth^[74]**
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Industrial sector	8.78	-4.15	3.95	4.87	2.33	1.16	4.34	5.40	6.01	4.61	9.18	0.25	-5.75	8.20	7.01	-3.74	1.21
Manufacturing	6.14	-3.94	1.73	2.61	2.01	5.37	5.76	4.12	4.03	4.87	7.08	4.52	-7.80	10.52	10.86	-5.29	2.42
Mining	3.70	-1.04	2.42	-4.04	5.26	1.77	1.02	3.95	5.64	-0.89	7.26	0.54	-7.17	1.72	-6.66	-3.31	4.85
Construction	13.37	-6.70	7.27	-7.97	2.17	5.40	3.19	8.33	14.37	10.20	19.55	-18.14	-3.08	2.39	1.83	-9.25	5.86

Manufacturing

It is the largest of Pakistan's industrial sectors, accounting for approximately 12.13% of GDP.^[76] The manufacturing sub-sector is further divided into three components: large-scale manufacturing (LSM) with a share of 79.6% in the manufacturing sector, small-scale manufacturing with a share of 13.8% in the manufacturing sector, while slaughtering contributes 6.5% to manufacturing.^[77] Major sectors in industries include cement, fertiliser, edible oil, sugar, steel, tobacco, chemicals, machinery, food processing, and medical instruments, primarily surgical.^[78]^[79]^[80] Pakistan is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of surgical instruments.^[81]^[82]

Production of Selected Manufactured Goods^[83]
Manufactured Goods	Unit of quantity	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Cotton Yarn	Metric Tonne (000)	3,406	3,428	3,430	3,431	3,060	3,442	3,459	2,695	2,477
Jute Goods		55	60	74	67	65	70	58	63	41
Cooking Oil		380	390	391	406	442	460	510	567	642
Sugar		5,115	7,049	6,566	5,260	4,881	5,694	7,921	6,709	6,796
Cement		35,432	37,022	41,148	39,924	39,121	49,797	48,011	41,448	39,566
Paper & Board		610	669	731	704	707	730	825	792	787
Caustic Soda		225	224	270	247	342	394	405	476	497
Hydrogen Chloride		172	177	251	425	361	417	510	525	507
Sulphuric Acid		75	56	49	49	40	72	111	71	64
Vegetable Ghee		1,241	1,280	1,347	1,392	1,454	1,455	1,393	1,554	1,493
Cotton Cloth	Million Meters	1,039	1,043	1,044	1,046	935	1,048	1,051	921	871
Cigarettes	Billion Numbers	54	34	59	61	46	52	60	43	33
Nitrogenous Fertilizers	NT (000)	3,018	3,063	2,758	2,990	3,139	3,324	3,391	3,163	3,483
Phosphatic Fertilizers	NT (000)	664	683	619	633	631	748	804	616	756
Cycle Tyres & Tubes	Numbers (000)	11,490	11,507	11,470	14,491	13,496	10,314	10,876	10,702	10,943
Motor Tyres & Tubes		34,202	34,345	35,057	36,321	35,678	31,906	30,296	30,515	31,107
Motorcycle		2,071	2,501	2,825	2,460	1,813	2,476	2,190	1,289	1,235
Bicycle		199	200	200	174	141	79	141	146	159
Electric Transformers		33	37	47	31	23	29	35	32	22
Refrigerators		1,477	1,834	1,348	1,084	716	1,351	1,389	1,008	818
Air Conditioners		388	471	451	518	216	508	540	347	224
Electric Fans		2,033	2,523	2,596	2,591	2,124	2,499	2,600	2,182	2,283
Electric Meters		1,310	1,923	1,715	1,550	1,039	1,419	2,030	2,038	2,117
Motor Spirits/Petrol	Million Liters	2,216	2,518	2,988	3,085	2,684	3,424	3,392	3,051	3,294
High Speed Diesel		5,236	5,467	6,283	5,665	4,529	5,612	5,615	4,655	5,340
Furnace Oil		3,080	3,215	3,478	3,063	2,370	2,717	2,567	2,191	2,633
Jeeps & Cars	Numbers	180,717	193,996	231,738	218,845	106,764	182,389	271,923	131,978	100,221
Tractors	Numbers	34,914	53,975	71,894	49,902	32,608	50,700	58,922	31,752	46,275
Trucks & Buses	Numbers	8,331	10,548	13,425	9,684	4,848	5,977	7,934	4,839	3,240

Pakistan's largest corporations are primarily engaged in utilities such as oil, gas, electricity, automobile, cement, food, chemicals, fertilizer, civil aviation, textile, and telecommunication.

Their assets, sales, and profit/loss for the year 2023 are listed below:^[84]

Amounts are in Billion PKR
Name	Total Assets	Sales	Profit / (Loss) after Tax
Oil and Gas Development Co. Ltd.	1,424	414	224.6
Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited	1,268	1,294	10.4
Pakistan State Oil Co. Ltd.	983	3,391	5.7
K-Electric	1,025	519	(30.9)
Sui Southern Gas Co. Ltd	798	376	(11.4)
Pakistan Petroleum Ltd.	790	286	97.9
Lucky Cement Ltd.	608	385	49.4
The Hub Power Co. Ltd.	406	114	62.0
Attock Refinery Ltd.	193	369	28.0
Fatima Fertilizer Co. Ltd.	234	235	23.0
Engro Fertilizers Ltd.	161	224	26.2
Fauji Fertilizer Co. Ltd.	327	181	19.7
Attock Petroleum Ltd.	108	474	12.5
Indus Motor Co. Ltd.	123	178	9.7
Shell Pakistan Ltd.	106	432	5.8
Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Ltd.	146	193	4.4
National Refinery Ltd.	112	299	(4.5)
Nestle Pakistan Ltd.	98	201	16.5
Cnergyico PK Limited	365	194	(13.6)
Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd.	644	188	(15.5)
Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ltd.	321	179	(17.5)
Nishat Mills Ltd.	170	142	12.2
Fauji Cement Co. Ltd.	139	90	29.5
Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Ltd.	134	139	4.9
INTERLOOP (Pvt) Ltd.	125	121	21.7
Pakistan Tobacco Co. Ltd.	110	110	29.0
Bestway Cement Ltd.	175	88	11.9
Pakistan Refinery Ltd.	105	262	1.8

Cement industry

In 1947, Pakistan inherited four cement plants with a total capacity of 0.5 million tons. Some expansion occurred in 1956–66 but couldn't keep pace with economic development. The country resorted to cement imports in 1976–77, continuing until 1994–95. The cement sector, comprising 27 plants, contributes over Rs 30 billion to the national exchequer in taxes. By 2013, Pakistan's cement industry grew rapidly, driven by demand from Afghanistan and countries boosting the real estate sector. In April 2020, the government introduced an incentive package for the construction industry, including an amnesty scheme, tax exemptions, and a Rs 36 billion subsidy for Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. Additionally, banks were directed to increase construction sector loans to 5 percent of their total loan book, and FED reduction on cement from Rs 2/kg to Rs 1.5/kg provided further impetus to the industry.^[85]

Cement production capacity & dispatches (million tonnes)**^[86]**^[87]
Indicators	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Production Capacity	37.68	42.28	45.34	42.37	44.64	44.64	44.64	45.62	45.62	46.39	48.66	55.90	63.53	69.14	69.29	83.18
Local Dispatches	22.58	20.33	23.57	22.00	23.95	25.06	26.15	28.20	33.00	35.65	41.15	40.34	39.97	48.12	47.64	40.01
Exports	7.72	10.98	10.65	9.43	8.57	8.37	8.14	7.20	5.87	4.66	4.75	6.54	7.85	9.31	5.26	4.57
Total Dispatches	30.30	31.31	34.22	31.43	32.52	33.43	34.28	35.40	38.87	40.32	45.89	46.88	47.81	57.43	52.89	44.58

Fertilizer industry

Fertilizer is a crucial and costly input responsible for a 30 to 50 percent increase in crop productivity. The overall objective is sustainability and growth in the agricultural sector to match the growing population for food security and the promotion of economic growth. There are nine urea manufacturing plants, one DAP, three NP, four SSP, two CAN, one SOP, and two plants of blended NPKs with a total production capacity of 9,172 thousand tonnes per annum in 2021. Urea is the main fertilizer, holding a 70 percent share in total production. The installed production capacity of 6,307 thousand tonnes per annum is sufficient to meet local demand, subject to the availability of uninterrupted gas and RLNG supply.

**Fertilizer Offtake by Nutrients ('000 tonnes)^[88]**
Nutrients	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Nitrogen	2925	3034	3476	3133	3207	2853	3185	3308	2672	3730	3435	3408	3415	3711	3838
Phosphorus	630	651	860	767	633	747	881	975	1007	1269	1279	1153	1084	1228	1093
Potassium	27	25	24	32	21	21	24	33	20	41	50	53	50	69	71

Defence industry

The defence industry of Pakistan, under the Ministry of Defence Production, was established in September 1951 to promote and coordinate the array of military production facilities that have emerged since independence. It is actively engaged in numerous joint production projects, such as the Al Khalid 2 tank, advanced trainer aircraft, combat aircraft, artillery systems like MRLS, combat and surveillance drones like GIDS Shahpar-1 and Shahpar-2, battle management and surveillance radars, electronic warfare systems, navy ships, and submarines.

Pakistan manufactures and sells weapons to over 40 countries, including European customers, generating $620 million annually. The country's sophisticated arms imports increased by 119 percent between 2004–2008 and 2009–13, with China providing 54 percent and the USA 27 percent of Pakistan's imports.

Textiles industry

Most of the Textile Industry is concentrated in Punjab. However, before 1990, the industry was predominantly located in Karachi.

Presently, the textile industry comprises two main segments: a highly organized large-scale sector and a considerably fragmented cottage/small-scale sector. The organized sector mainly includes integrated Textile Mills, housing numerous spinning units and a limited number of shuttle-less loom units. Conversely, the unorganized sector encompasses downstream industries like Weaving, Finishing, Garment, Towels, and Hosiery, all of which possess significant export potential. Within this sector, certain enterprises have expanded to an international scale and exhibit progressive business philosophies.

As of June 2021, the Pakistani textile industry comprises 517 textile units, including 40 composite units and 477 spinning units. This landscape also includes 28,500 shuttle-less looms and 375,000 conventional looms. The growth of the Spinning Sector has been fueled by export demands and cotton production, with subsequent growth observed in the Weaving & Processing Sector. Notably, independent air-jet weaving units have emerged, both as standalone entities and in conjunction with spinning or processing units.

A notable trend is the ongoing backward integration of some clothing units, while spinning units are actively developing weaving, finishing, and assembly capabilities to create a comprehensive supply chain. This symbiotic relationship between the Textile and Clothing sectors is leading to horizontal and vertical integration, often managed by the same entities or through business collaborations.^[89]

This sector contributes nearly one-fourth of industrial value-added and provides employment to about 40 percent of the industrial labor force. Excluding seasonal and cyclical fluctuations, textile products have maintained an average share of about 60 percent in national exports.

Automobile Industry

The auto sector constitutes about 7 percent of LSM in 2021, contributing significantly to the country's industrial output.^[90] Given government support and the removal of obstacles, the industrial expansion is expected to yield positive results soon. Many new investors have joined with commercial production, while existing players have already made substantial investments, with more in the pipeline. Among the automakers yet to start production, Proton, MG, and Volkswagen are poised to make a significant impact in the local passenger vehicle market. Meanwhile, KIA, Hyundai, Changan, and Prince DFSK have already commenced productions in Pakistan.^[91]

Production & Sale of Vehicles^[92]
Type		2006	2011	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Car	P	170,487	133,972	179,944	188,936	217,774	209,255	94,325	151,794	226,433	101,984	79,573
Car	S	165,965	127,944	181,145	185,781	216,786	207,630	96,455	151,182	234,180	96,811	81,577
Truck	P	4,518	2,901	5,666	7,712	9,326	6,035	2,945	3,808	5,659	3,074	2,204
Truck	S	4,273	2,942	5,550	7,499	9,331	5,828	3,088	3,695	5,802	3,182	2,187
Bus	P	825	490	1,070	1,118	803	913	532	570	661	701	419
Bus	S	927	515	1,017	1,130	762	935	559	652	696	654	454
Jeep & Pick-Up	P	21,624	20,025	36,609	27,795	42,778	31,978	15,633	31,073	44,421	31,333	21,084
Jeep & Pick-Up	S	21,471	18,553	36,534	27,338	42,006	33,016	15,507	30,215	45,087	30,067	22,250
Farm Tractor	P	48,887	70,770	34,914	53,975	71,894	49,902	32,608	50,751	58,880	31,726	45,529
Farm Tractor	S	48,802	69,203	33,986	54,992	70,887	50,405	32,727	50,920	58,947	30,942	45,484
2/3 Wheelers	P	520,124	838,665	1,362,096	1,632,965	1,928,757	1,782,605	1,370,417	1,902,415	1,826,467	1,185,532	1,150,090
2/3 Wheelers	S	516,640	835,455	1,358,643	1,630,735	1,931,340	1,781,959	1,370,005	1,903,932	1,821,885	1,186,969	1,150,112

Note: These figures do not include the production/sale of companies which are not members of the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

After the entry of new models and brands by new entrants and due to the significantly low benchmark interest rate of 7%, consumer financing hit an all-time high in 2021. This trend started when a new Automotive Development Policy (2016–2021) was first approved by the ECC in its meeting held on 18 March 2016.

Such growth in demand for car financing was last seen during President Pervez Musharraf's regime (2001–2008) when banks, having ample liquidity, lent a significant amount for cars without checking borrowers' capabilities to repay the debt. Later on, the car financing bubble burst when a large number of people defaulted on paying off the car financing.

Outstanding Loans of Consumer Financing for Automobiles (Billion PKR)^[56]
Jun 2006	Jun 2007	Jun 2010	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Jun 2017	Jun 2018	Jun 2019	Jun 2020	Jun 2021	Jun 2022	Jun 2023	Jun 2024
97.78	105.44	64.20	85.12	111.96	154.25	193.60	215.46	211.11	308.10	367.85	293.728	230.501

Mining

Pakistan is endowed with significant mineral resources and is emerging as a very promising area for prospecting/exploration for mineral deposits. Based on available information, the country's more than 6,00,000 km² of outcrops area demonstrates varied geological potential for metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits. In the wake of the 18th amendment to the constitution, all the provinces are free to exploit and explore the mineral resources within their jurisdiction.

Mining and quarrying contribute 13.19% to the industrial sector, with its share in GDP being 2.4%.

In the recent past, exploration by government agencies as well as multinational mining companies presents ample evidence of the occurrences of sizeable mineral deposits. Recent discoveries of a thick oxidised zone underlain by sulphide zones in the shield area of the Punjab province, covered by thick alluvial cover, have opened new vistas for metallic minerals exploration. Pakistan has a large base for industrial minerals. The discovery of coal deposits with over 175 billion tonnes of reserves at Thar in the Sindh province has given an impetus to develop it as an alternative source of energy. There is vast potential for precious and dimension stones.

Extraction of principal minerals in the last 10 fiscal years is given in the table below:^[93]^[94]

Minerals	Unit of Quantity	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Coal	Metric ton (000)	3,407	3,750	3,954	4,478	5,407	8,428	9,230	9,678	15,070	20,086
Natural Gas	MMCFT (000)	1,466	1,482	1,472	1,459	1,437	1,317	1,279	1,308	1,190	1,141
Crude Oil	JSB (000)	34,490	31,652	32,269	32,557	32,495	28,091	27,560	28,098	25,360	25,811
Chromite	Metric ton	100,516	69,333	105,238	97,420	138,244	121,435	134,000	195,000	156,000	259,000
Dolomite	Metric ton	223,117	666,755	301,124	488,825	472,474	302,045	388,000	487,000	544,000	502,000
Gypsum	Metric ton (000)	1,417	1,872	2,080	2,476	2,518	2,150	2,527	2,325	1,640	2,136
Limestone	Metric ton (000)	40,470	46,123	52,149	70,819	75,596	65,810	76,632	58,362	58,941	61,387
Rock salt	Metric ton (000)	2,136	3,553	3,534	3,654	3,799	3,369	3,366	2,716	2,907	3,200
Sulphur	Metric ton	19,730	14,869	23,740	22,040	20,715	19,948	19,000	16,000	11,690	7,200
Barytes	Metric ton	24,689	57,024	75,375	145,189	116,480	55,341	52,000	128,000	141,000	145,000
Marble	Metric ton (000)	2,816	4,747	4,906	8,813	7,736	5,797	7,917	6,626	5,714	7,490

Energy

Main sources of Pakistan's primary energy supplies include Gas, Oil, Coal, Liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Hydroelectricity, with shares of 24%, 27%, 24.8%, 9.2%, and 7.5% respectively in 2022. Since coal mining began in the Thar desert and LNG imports from Qatar, Coal and imported LNG have increased their shares manyfold in just 5 years in the primary energy supplies of the country. The share of Gas has decreased from 50% in 2005 to 24% in 2022, and oil, since 2015, from 35% to 27% in 2022, being largely replaced by Coal and LNG. As Pakistan intends to generate around 8,800 megawatts of nuclear power by 2030, its share is also increasing gradually.

Primary Energy Supplies by Source^[95]
Fiscal Year	Unit	Gas	Oil	Coal	LNG	Hydro Electricity	Nuclear Electricity	LPG	Renewable Electricity	Imported Electricity	Total
2005	MTOE	27.95	16.33	4.23	–	6.13	0.67	0.25	–	0.03	55.59
2005	%Share	50.3	29.4	7.6	–	11.0	1.2	0.5	–	0.0	100
2010	MTOE	30.81	19.81	4.62	–	6.71	0.69	0.40	–	0.06	63.09
2010	%Share	48.8	31.4	7.3	–	10.6	1.1	0.6	–	0.1	100
2015	MTOE	29.98	24.97	4.95	0.47	7.75	1.38	0.46	0.19	0.11	70.26
2015	%Share	42.7	35.5	7.0	0.7	11.0	2.0	0.7	0.3	0.1	100
2020	MTOE	26.66	18.31	14.71	8.32	8.02	2.58	1.04	0.99	0.12	80.76
2020	%Share	33.0	22.7	18.2	10.3	9.9	3.2	1.3	1.2	0.2	100
2022	MTOE	24.81	27.97	25.70	9.50	7.81	4.58	1.52	1.48	0.11	103.47
2022	%Share	24.0	27.0	24.8	9.2	7.5	4.4	1.5	1.4	0.1	100

(CPPA-G) procures electricity from power producers, and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) transmits this electricity via its transmission lines to Distribution Companies (DISCOs), which then distribute this electricity via their distribution lines to end consumers. Balancing Pakistan's supply of electricity against the demand has been a longstanding unresolved issue. Since 2018, there has been an improvement in the availability of electricity due to the substantial increase in generation capacity. However, the cost of electricity has risen due to various factors such as circular debt, capacity payments, fuel costs, currency devaluation, low recovery rates, and Transmission and Distribution losses. Pakistan faces a significant challenge in overhauling its electricity supply network.

NEPRA Reports^[95]
indicator	2013	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Installed Capacity (MW)	23,725	25,421	28,712	35,979	38,995	38,719	39,772	43,835	45,885
Electricity Generation (GWh)	98,655	114,093	120,622	133,588	137,005	134,242	143,589	154,056	138,029
Electricity Consumption (GWh)	81,389	94,354	99,616	110,891	113,142	112,071	121,206	133,665	121,852
Transmission losses (%)	3.05	2.57	2.31	2.43	2.83	2.76	2.78	2.62	2.42
Distribution losses (%)	18.59	18.14	17.93	18.32	17.61	18.86	17.95	17.13	16.67
(%) share in Electricity Generation
Hydel	30.44	30.29	26.59	21.01	24.16	28.83	27.02	23.07	25.56
Thermal	64.91	64.57	65.34	68.87	65.25	60.21	61.76	60.54	52.09
Nuclear	4.24	3.70	5.20	6.78	6.67	7.37	7.72	11.87	17.43
Renewable Energy	0.03	1.04	2.45	2.92	3.57	3.21	3.15	4.18	4.58
Import				0.42	0.36	0.38	0.35	0.33	0.35

The total demand for petroleum products remained at 23.1 million tonnes during FY2022. The transport and power sectors are major petroleum consumers, covering approximately 90 percent of the total demand.^[96]

Sectoral Consumption of Petroleum Products (FY 2022)
Sector		Domestic	Industry	Agriculture	Transport	Power	Government	Overseas	Total
Quantity	(000) MT	29.522	1,332.899	11.822	17,409.035	3,683.322	373.489	250.121	23,090.210

Pakistan is an importer of petroleum products and crude oil. Imports of petroleum products during FY2022 amounted to around 12.9 million tonnes, valued at more than US$ 11.1 billion. The major imported products are Motor Spirit/Gasoline, High-Speed Diesel, and Furnace Oil, with import quantities of 6,502 thousand tonnes, 3,950 thousand tonnes, and 2,258 thousand tonnes, respectively.

Import of Petroleum Products (FY 2022)
Product		MS	HOBC	HSD	FO	JP-1	Total
Quantity	(000) MT	6,502.07	125.62	3,949.97	2,258.20	53.87	12,889.730
Value	Million US$	6,070.38	115.94	3,462.71	1,414.40	47.42	11,110.852

The total production of refineries in Pakistan for the fiscal year 2020–21 reached 10.66 million tons. Among these refineries, PARCO holds the largest share, accounting for 41%, followed by ARL, BPPL, NRL, and PRL with shares of 17%, 16%, 14%, and 12% respectively. OGRA, founded in March 2002, serves as the regulatory body with the primary goals of promoting competition and enhancing private investment and ownership within the petroleum sector by implementing effective and efficient regulations. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have established their infrastructure, including storage facilities and retail outlets, to market Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricant (POL) products. Motor Spirit (MS) and High-Speed Diesel (HSD) together make up nearly 80% of OMCs' sales. By the conclusion of the fiscal year 2021, OMCs had developed a storage capacity of 0.58 million tons for MS and 0.88 million tons for HSD, distributed across various depots throughout the country. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) operate a total of 9,978 retail outlets nationwide. Among these, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) holds the highest number of retail outlets, boasting 3,158 outlets, which accounts for approximately 31.65 percent of the total.^[97]

Indigenous natural gas supplies accounted for approximately 30 percent of Pakistan's total primary energy supply mix in FY2022. Pakistan maintains an extensive gas network comprising over 13,775 kilometers of transmission pipelines, 157,395 kilometers of main pipelines, and 41,352 kilometers of service pipelines. This network serves the needs of more than 10.7 million consumers throughout the country. During FY 2021–22, the natural gas supply in Pakistan reached 3,982 MMCFD. The country relies on several major gas fields, including Sui, Uch, Qadirpur, Sawan, Zamzama, Badin, Bhit, Kandhkot, Mari, and Manzalai, to meet its domestic demand. Additionally, Pakistan has been importing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) since 2015, with Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) playing a significant role in alleviating natural gas shortages. In the year 2021–22, approximately 24 percent of the country's gas supplies were sourced from imported RLNG.

In FY 2020–21, the primary consumer of natural gas was the power sector, which accounted for more than 30 percent of the total consumption, equivalent to 1,208 MMCFD. Following the power sector, the domestic sector consumed 21 percent, or 850 MMCFD, while the fertilizer sector consumed 20 percent, totaling 834 MMCFD.^[97]

Services

Pakistan's service sector contributes approximately 61.7% to the GDP.^[69] Within this sector, transport, storage, communications, finance, and insurance comprise 24%, while wholesale and retail trade constitute about 30%. Pakistan is actively promoting the growth of the information industry and other modern service industries by offering incentives such as long-term tax holidays.

**% growth^[74]**
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022
Service sector	4.72	1.84	2.63	2.86	3.48	5.13	3.82	4.20	5.03	5.62	5.95	5.00	-1.21	5.91	6.59

Telecommunications

After the deregulation of the telecommunications industry, the sector has experienced exponential growth. Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTCL) has emerged as a successful Forbes 2000 conglomerate with over US$1 billion in sales in 2005. The mobile telephone market has expanded many-fold since 2003, reaching a subscriber base of 140 million users in July 2017, one of the highest mobile teledensities in the world.^[98] Pakistan won the prestigious Government Leadership award of GSM Association in 2006.^[99]

In Pakistan, the following are the top mobile phone operators:

Jazz Pakistan (parent: VEON, Netherlands)
Ufone (parent: PTCL (Etisalat), Pakistan/UAE)
Telenor (parent: Telenor, Norway)
Zong (parent: China Mobile, China)

By March 2009, Pakistan had 91 million mobile subscribers – 25 million more subscribers than reported in the same period in 2008. In addition to the 3.1 million fixed lines, as many as 2.4 million are using Wireless Local Loop connections. Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Motorola along with Samsung and LG remain the most popular brands among customers.^[100]

Since liberalisation, over the past four years from 2003 to 2007, the Pakistani telecom sector has attracted more than $9 billion in foreign investments.^[101] During 2007–08, the Pakistani communication sector alone received $1.62 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – about 30% of the country's total foreign direct investment.

According to the PC World, a total of 6.37 billion text messages were sent through Acision messaging systems across Asia Pacific over the 2008/2009 Christmas and New Year period.^[102] Pakistan was amongst the top five rankers with one of the highest SMS traffic with 763 million messages. On 14 August 2010, Pakistan became the first country in the world to experience EVDO's RevB 3G technology that offers maximum speeds of 9.3 Mbit/s.

3G and 4G were simultaneously launched in Pakistan on 23 April 2014 through a SMRA auction. Three out of five companies got a 3G licence i.e. Ufone, Mobilink and Telenor while China Mobile's Zong got 3G as well as a 4G licence. Whereas the fifth company, Warid Pakistan did not participate in the auction procedure, But they launched 4G LTE services on their existing 2G 1800 MHz spectrum due to Technology-neutral terms and became the world's first Telecom Company to transform directly from 2G to 4G. With that, Pakistan joined the 3G and 4G world. In December 2017, 3G and 4G subscribers in Pakistan reached 46 million.^[98]

After the successful implementation of the Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) in 2019 along with a comprehensive mobile manufacturing policy, it created a favourable environment for mobile device manufacturing in Pakistan. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, local mobile phone manufacturing exceeded the number of mobile phones that were imported in 2021. Mobile Device Manufacturing (MDM) licences have been issued to 26 companies, including Samsung, Redmi, Realme, Nokia, Oppo, TECNO, Infinix, Itel, Vgotel, and Q-Mobile.^[103]

PTA Reports^[104]^[105]
Indicators	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Teledensity	4.31%	6.25%	11.9%	26.24%	44.06%	72.4%	74.1%	75.1%	76.3%	81.7%	84.6%	81.4%	80.5%
Telecom Subscribers (Millions)	2.4	5.0	12.7	34.5	62.3	139.8	151.5	165.0	171.1	186.8	197.2	193.5	195.1
Broadband Subscribers (Millions)				0.03	0.05	44.8	58.7	71.5	83.8	102.7	118.8	127.6	138.3
Broadband Penetration				0.0%	0.0%	22.7%	28.1%	32.6%	37.4%	44.9%	51.0%	53.6%	57.0%
Cellular Mobile Data Usage (Petabytes)						690	1,262	2,493	4,510	6,853	8,970	10,850	13,021
Telecom Revenues ( Billion PKR)		118	144	195	236	528	540	604	595	641	717	817	955
Telecom contribution to exchequer (Billion PKR)	30.0	38	67	77	100	161	163	111	286	222	329	341	335
Total Telecom investment ( Million US $ )			1,473	1,731	4,109	1,133	1,132	882	1,140	1,214	1,657	770	765
Mobile (CBU) imports (Million units)						18.11	12.07	16.28	24.51	10.26	1.53	1.58	1.17*
Local Assembly / Manufacturing (Million units)						1.72	5.2	11.74	13.05	24.66	21.94	21.28	22.59*

* (Jan - Sep 2024)

Transportation

Air linkage

The year 1955 marked the inauguration of the Pakistan airline's first scheduled international service – to London, via Cairo and Rome. In 1959, the Government of Pakistan appointed Air Commodore Nur Khan as the managing director of PIA. With his visionary leadership, PIA 'took off' and within a short span of 6 years, gained the stature and status of one of the world's frontline carriers. In aviation circles, this period has often been referred to as the "golden years of PIA". On 29 April 1964, with a Boeing 720B, PIA earned the distinction of becoming the first airline from a non-communist country to fly into the People's Republic of China. Private sector airlines in Pakistan include Airblue, which serves the main cities within Pakistan in addition to destinations in the Persian Gulf and Manchester in the United Kingdom.

PIA Annual Reports^[106]
Indicators	2003	2008	2013	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Route Kilometers	290,129	311,131	411,936	332,303	389,725	705,820	374,054	341,821
Passengers carried (000)	4,556	5,617	4,449	5,203	5,290	2,541	2,657	4,281
Operating Revenue (Billion PKR)	47.952	88.863	95.771	103.490	147.500	94.989	86.185	172.038
Operating Expenses (Billion PKR)	42.574	120.499	123.151	150.524	153.631	95.670	101.212	183.354
Profit+/-Loss after Tax (Billion PKR)	+1.298	−36.138	−44.322	−67.328	−52.602	−34.643	−50.101	−88.008

Railway Linkage

Pakistan Railways (PR) is a major mode of transport in the public sector, contributing to the country's economic growth and providing national integration. 13 May 1861 was a historical day when the first railway line was opened for public between Karachi City and Kotri, a distance of 169 km. In 1885, the Sindh, Punjab and Delhi Railways were purchased by the Secretary of State for India. On 1 January 1886 this line and other State Railways were integrated and North Western State Railway was formed; which was later on renamed as North Western Railways (NWR). At the time of Independence, the NWR was bifurcated with 1,847 route miles lying in India and 5,048 route miles in Pakistan. In 2022, Pakistan Railways comprised a total of 467 locomotives (462 Diesel Engine and 05 Steam Engines) for the 7,479 km route length. Pakistan Railways employs 60,643 people in the year 2022.

Pakistan Railway Year Books^[107]
Indicators	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Route Kilometers	7,791	7,791	7,791	7,791	7,791	7,791	7,479	7,791	7,791
Track Kilometer	11,881	11,881	11,881	11,881	11,881	11,881	11,492	11,881	11,881
Passengers Carried (000)	52,192	52,388	54,907	60,387	44,304	28,424	35,681	35,404	42,103
Goods Carried (000 Tonnes)	5,001	5,630	8,355	8,376	7,412	8,213	8,098	5,748	7,854
Operating Revenue (Billion PKR)	36.58	40.06	49.57	54.51	47.58	48.65	60.09	63.29	88.73
Operating Expenses (Billion PKR)	41.86	50.07	52.07	53.77	59.29	56.33	67.56	72.12	88.31
Net Loss (Billion PKR)	26.53	40.79	37.12	33.49	50.27	47.71	48.49	47.77	53.32

Road Linkage

The National Highway Authority (NHA) was established in 1991 through an Act of Parliament for the planning, development, operation, repair, and maintenance of National Highways and Strategic Roads specially entrusted to NHA by the Federal Government or by a Provincial Government or other authority concerned. NHA is the custodian of 39 national highways, motorways, expressways, and strategic routes, with a total length of 12,131 km, constituting 4.6% of the total national roads network, which is 263,775 km. However, it carries 80% of commercial traffic, and the N-5 National Highway, which is the lifeline of Pakistan, carries 65% of this load in the country.

Maritime Linkage

Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) is a national flag carrier. It was formed through the merger of the National Shipping Corporation (NSC) and Pakistan Shipping Corporation in 1979. PNSC has had worldwide operations in the Dry Bulk segment of the shipping market since its inception and has been involved in the transportation of liquid cargo since 1998, both locally and internationally. The corporation's head office is located in Karachi. Currently, the PNSC fleet comprises eleven vessels of various types and sizes (five Bulk carriers, four Aframax tankers, and two LR-1 Clean Product tankers) with a total deadweight capacity (cargo carrying capacity) of 831,711 metric tons, the highest ever carrying capacity since the inception of PNSC.^[108]

Finance

Pakistan has a large and diverse banking system. In 1974, a nationalization programme led to the creation of six government-owned banks.^[109] A privatization programme in the 1990s led to the entry of foreign-owned and local banks into the industry.^[109] As of 2010, there were five publicly-owned commercial banks in Pakistan, as well as 25 domestic private banks, six multinational banks, and four specialised banks.^[109]

Since 2000, Pakistani banks have begun aggressive marketing of consumer finance to the emerging middle class, allowing for a consumption boom (more than a 7-month waiting list for certain car models) as well as a construction bonanza. Pakistan's banking sector remained remarkably strong and resilient during the 2007–2008 financial crisis, a feature which has served to attract a substantial amount of FDI in the sector. Stress tests conducted in June 2008 data indicate that the large banks are relatively robust, with the medium and small-sized banks positioning themselves in niche markets.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics provisionally valued this sector at Rs.807,807 million in 2012, thus registering over 510% growth since 2000.^[110]

An article published in the Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy by Mete Feridun of the University of Greenwich in London with his Pakistani colleague Abdul Jalil presents strong econometric evidence that financial development fosters economic growth in Pakistan.^[111]

Financial Statements of Major Banks 2023 (Billion PKR)^[112]^[113]
Bank	Total assets	Revenue	Profit After Tax
STATE BANK OF PAKISTAN	19,687	1,218	1,143.0
HABIB BANK LTD.	5,202	277	56.9
MEEZAN BANK LTD.	3,012	249	84.5
NATIONAL BANK OF PAKISTAN	6,653	209	51.8
MCB BANK LTD.	2,427	181	59.6
UNITED BANK LTD.	5,575	166	53.2
BANK ALFALAH LTD.	3,346	154	36.5
BANK AL-HABIB LTD.	2,741	147	35.3
ALLIED BANK LTD.	2,329	138	40.7
STANDARD CHARTERED BANK (PAKISTAN) LTD.	1,002	107	42.6
HABIB METROPOLITAN BANK LTD.	1,556	87	24.4

In recent years, banking through digital channels has been gaining popularity in the country. These channels offer alternatives resulting in faster delivery of financial services to a wide range of customers. Significant progress has been observed in the usage of Internet Banking and Mobile Banking channels during the last few years, which is evident from the fact that in the last 5 years, internet banking transactions have seen compound annualised growth of 31%, whereas mobile banking transactions have grown by 86% during the said period.

**Payment System Infrastructure^[114]**
	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Commercial Banks + MFBs	44	44	44	44	45
Bank branches	16,067	16,308	17,031	17,693	18,450
Total Number of ATMs	15,612	16,355	17,133	17,808	18,957
Internet Banking Users (000)	3,983	5,239	8,370	9,637	11,996
Mobile Phone Banking Users (000)	8,452	10,873	12,339	16,061	18,678
POS Machines	49,067	71,907	104,865	115,288	125,593
Credit Cards (million)	1.66	1.72	1.80	2.01	2.04
Debit Cards (million)	26.7	29.8	34.6	39.0	48.3

**Payment System Statistics^[114]**
		FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
PRISM System*	Transactions (Millions)	2.6	4.2	4.4	4.9	5.8
PRISM System*	Amount (Trillion PKR)	394.3	444.6	681.6	640.4	1,043.1
Paper Based	Transactions (Millions)	598.4	582.3	599.1	574.2	571.2
Paper Based	Amount (Trillion PKR)	185.6	218.9	295.7	342.7	447.7
Mobile Banking	Transactions (Millions)	82.8	193.4	387.5	660.6	1,122.8
Mobile Banking	Amount (Trillion PKR)	1.8	4.9	11.8	23.8	46.3
E-commerce	Transactions (Millions)	10.2	21.9	45.5	31.8	39.9
E-commerce	Amount (Billion PKR)	34.9	60.6	106.0	142.0	194.3

* Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) mechanism in Pakistan is named the Pakistan Real-time Interbank Settlement Mechanism (PRISM).

Housing

The property sector has expanded twenty-threefold since 2001, particularly in metropolises like Lahore.^[115] Nevertheless, the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimated in late 2006 that the overall production of housing units in Pakistan has to be increased to 0.5 million units annually to address 6.1 million backlog of housing in Pakistan for meeting the housing shortfall in next 20 years. The report noted that the present housing stock is also rapidly aging and an estimate suggests that more than 50% of stock is over 50 years old. It is also estimated that 50% of the urban population now lives in slums and squatter settlements. The report said that meeting the backlog in housing, besides replacement of out-lived housing units, is beyond the financial resources of the government. This necessitates putting in place a framework to facilitate financing in the formal private sector and mobilise non-government resources for a market-based housing finance system.^[116] To promote affordable housing and home ownership among low to middle-income group, who currently do not own a house, SBP in 2020 has introduced the Government's Mark-Up Subsidy Scheme through which subsidized financing is provided to individuals for construction or purchase of a new house. Since then, a huge demand for house financing has been witnessed by the commercial banks.

Outstanding Loans of Consumer Financing for House Building (Billion PKR)^[56]
Jun 2006	Jun 2010	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Jun 2017	Jun 2018	Jun 2019	Jun 2020	Jun 2021	Jun 2022	Jun 2023	Jun 2024
43.205	54.500	40.207	48.153	60.688	82.939	92.561	79.803	103.631	200.765	212.315	203.580

Tourism

Tourism in Pakistan has been hailed as the tourism industry's "next big thing". Pakistan, with its diverse cultures, people, and landscapes, has attracted 90 million tourists to the country, almost double that of a decade ago. Currently, Pakistan ranks 130th in the world by tourist income. Due to the threat of terrorism, the number of foreign tourists has gradually declined, and the shock of the 2013 Nanga Parbat tourist shooting has severely adversely affected the tourism industry.^[117] As of 2016^[update], tourism has begun to recover in Pakistan, albeit gradually, with a current global rank of 130.^[118]

Foreign trade, remittances, aid, and investment

Investment

Foreign investment had significantly declined by 2010, dropping by 54.6% due to Pakistan's political instability and weak law and order, according to the Bank of Pakistan.^[119]

Business regulations have been overhauled along liberal lines, especially since 1999. Most barriers to the flow of capital and international direct investment have been removed. Foreign investors do not face any restrictions on the inflow of capital, and investment of up to 100% of equity participation is allowed in most sectors. Unlimited remittance of profits, dividends, service fees or capital is now the rule. However, doing business has been becoming increasingly difficult over the past decade due to political instability, rising domestic insurgency and insecurity and vehement corruption. This can be confirmed by the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index report degrading its ratings for Pakistan each year since September 2009.

The World Bank (WB) and International Finance Corporation's flagship report Ease of Doing Business Index 2020 ranked Pakistan 108 among 190 countries around the globe, indicating a continuous improvement and taking a jump from 136 last year. The top five countries were New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Hong Kong and South Korea.^[120]

With improvement in ease of doing business ranking and giving an investment friendly road map from government, many new auto sector giants like France's Renault, South Korean's Hyundai and Kia, Chinese JW Forland and German auto giant Volkswagen are considering entry into Pakistan auto market through joint ventures with local manufacturers like Dewan Farooque Motors, Khalid Mushtaq Motors and United Motors.^[121] As of March 2022, only the Hyundai Nishat JV materialised.

US oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil has again returned to Pakistan after nearly three decades gap and has acquired 25% shares in offshore drilling in May 2018, with initial survey showing a potential of huge hydrocarbon reserves discovery offshore.^[122]

To boost Pakistan's unstable foreign-exchange reserves, Qatar announced to invest $3 billion in the form of deposits and direct investments in the country.^[123] By the end of June 2019, Qatar sent the first $500 million to Pakistan.^[124]^[125]

Data is from SBP.^[126]^[127]

Amounts are in million US$
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Foreign Direct Investment	5,410	3,720	2,151	1,635	821	1,457	1,699	1,034	2,393	2,407	2,780	1,362	2,598	1,821	1,936	1,627	1,902

Foreign acquisitions and mergers

With the rapid growth in Pakistan's economy, foreign investors are taking a keen interest in the corporate sector of Pakistan. In recent years, majority stakes in many corporations have been acquired by multinational groups.

PICIC by Singapore-based Temasek Holdings for $339 million
Union Bank by Standard Chartered Bank for $487 million
Prime Commercial Bank by ABN Amro for $228 million
PakTel by China Mobile for $460 million
PTCL by Etisalat for $1.8 billion
Additional 57.6% shares of Lakson Tobacco Company acquired by Philip Morris International for $382 million
In 2016, Arçelik acquired Dawlance for $243 million.^[128]
In 2016, FrieslandCampina acquired 51% stake in Engro Foods for $446.81 million.^[129]
In 2016, The Abraaj Group sold its 66.4% stake in K-Electric to Shanghai Electric for $1.77 billion.^[130]

The foreign exchange receipts from these sales are also helping cover the current account deficit.^[131]

Foreign trade

Pakistan witnessed the highest export of US$25.4 billion in the FY 2011. However, in subsequent years exports have declined considerably. This decline started from the financial year 2015 when an international commodity slump set in. This was compounded by structural supply-side constraints including energy shortages, high input costs, and an overvalued exchange rate. From the financial year 2014 to 2016, exports declined by 12.4 percent. Exports growth trend over this period was similar to the world trade growth patterns. Pakistan's external sector continued facing stress during 2017. But still, Pakistan's merchandise trade exports grew by 0.1 percent during the fiscal year 2017. The imports continued to grow at a much faster rate and grew by a large percentage of 18.0 during the FY 2017 as compared to the previous year.^[132]

Note: This is the trade data (export and import) as released by the SBP.^[133]^[134] This may differ from the data compiled by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

Amounts in billion US dollars
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Total Exports	24.01	23.21	24.89	31.11	29.73	31.53	30.42	29.96	27.43	27.92	30.62	30.22	27.97	31.58	39.60	35.47	38.90
Goods	20.45	19.13	19.68	25.37	24.72	24.80	25.08	24.09	21.97	22.00	24.77	24.26	22.54	25.64	32.49	27.88	31.09
Services	3.56	4.09	5.21	5.75	5.01	6.72	5.35	5.87	5.46	5.92	5.85	5.97	5.44	5.95	7.10	7.60	7.81
Total Imports	45.44	39.22	38.12	43.57	48.69	48.45	49.66	50.21	50.12	58.58	67.95	62.81	52.40	62.73	84.49	61.33	63.29
Goods	35.28	31.67	31.13	35.80	40.37	40.16	41.67	41.36	41.12	48.00	55.67	51.87	43.65	54.27	71.54	52.70	53.17
Services	10.16	7.56	6.99	7.77	8.32	8.29	8.00	8.85	9.00	10.58	12.28	10.94	8.75	8.46	12.94	8.64	10.12
Trade deficit	21.43	16.01	13.23	12.46	18.96	16.92	19.24	20.24	22.69	30.66	37.33	32.58	24.43	31.15	44.89	25.86	24.39

Pakistan's imports are showing a rising trend at a relatively faster rate due to increased economic activity as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), particularly in the energy sector. The construction projects under CPEC require heavy machinery that has to be imported. It is also observed that the economy is currently being led both by investments as well as consumption, resulting in relatively higher levels of imports. During FY 2018, Pakistan's exports picked up and reached US$24.8 billion, showing a growth of 12.6 percent over the previous year, FY 2017. Imports, on the other hand, also increased by 16.2 percent, reaching the highest figure of US$56.6 billion. As a result, the trade deficit widened to US$31.8 billion, which was the highest in the last ten years. Pakistan's exports of goods recorded their highest level of $25.6 billion during the fiscal year 2021, higher than the $25.3 billion recorded in 2011.

Exports

Pakistan's major export commodities since fiscal year 2014 are listed in the table below.^[135]

**Amounts are in Million US$**
Commodities	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Knitwear	2,264	2,309	2,335	2,615	2,854	2,688	3,372	4,516	4,244	4,018
Ready-made garments	2,044	2,156	2,279	2,477	2,568	2,595	2,820	3,698	3,496	3,471
Bed wear	2,207	2,126	2,157	2,346	2,347	2,230	2,691	3,255	2,804	2,790
Rice	2,038	1,853	1,575	1,933	2,163	2,274	2,211	2,760	2,109	3,684
Cotton cloth	2,487	2,332	2,123	2,176	2,174	1,942	1,884	2,338	2,155	1,898
Chemical and pharmaceutical	1,250	1,052	1,113	1,390	1,227	1,074	1,147	1,482	1,429	1,420
Cotton yarn	1,818	1,266	1,140	1,249	1,202	1,081	921	1,200	870	1,052
Towels	716	721	679	750	713	680	882	1,080	931	954
Leather manufactures	547	488	487	615	503	480	560	649	628	606
Sports goods	585	539	552	551	519	458	471	507	460	439
Surgical goods & medical instruments	401	424	396	442	438	411	480	475	454	456

Imports

Pakistan's major import commodities since fiscal year 2014 are listed in the table below.^[136]^[137]

**Amounts are in Million US$**
Commodities	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022
Petroleum products	9,020	7,774	5,098	6,380	6,768	6,039	4,190	4,641	10,296
Petroleum crude	5,755	4,393	2,570	2,765	4,310	4,915	2,606	3,190	4,602
Liquefied natural gas (LNG)	0	135	579	1,271	2,036	2,872	2,375	1,776	3,681
Plastic material	1,680	1,772	1,791	1,875	2,312	2,273	1,941	2,460	3,251
Palm oil	1,922	1,681	1,600	1,775	1,908	1,662	1,752	2,443	3,151
Road vehicles	861	1,025	1,264	1,774	2,182	1,934	1,276	2,143	3,010
Iron and steel	1,540	1,813	2,094	1980	2,523	2,008	1,491	2,197	2,854
Raw cotton	532	449	1,127	909	1,198	1,181	1,342	1,894	2,283
Telecom	1,217	1,225	1,201	1,023	1,397	1,172	1,637	2,513	2,252
Electrical machinery & apparatus	722	935	1,651	1,317	1,801	1,287	1,135	1,452	1,817
Textile Machinery	658	492	529	652	615	654	588	855	1,212
Power generating machinery	675	898	1,356	1,337	1,577	732	734	930	795

External imbalances

During FY 2017, the increase in imports of capital equipment and fuel significantly put pressure on the external account. A reversal in global oil prices led to an increase in POL imports, accompanied by falling exports, as a result, the merchandise trade deficit grew by 39.4 percent to US$26.885 billion in FY 2017. While remittances and Coalition Support Fund inflows both declined slightly over the same period last year, however, the impact was offset by an improvement in the income account, mainly due to lower profit repatriations by oil and gas firms.^[138]

'The current account deficit increased to US$19.2 billion in FY 2018.^[139]

However, the impact of high current deficit on foreign exchange reserves was not severe, as financial inflows were available to the country to partially offset the gap; these inflows helped ensure stability in the exchange rate. Net FDI grew by 12.4 percent and reached US$1.6 billion in the nine-month period, whereas net FPI saw an inflow of US$631 million, against an outflow of US$393 million last year. Encouragingly for the country, the period saw the completion of multiple merger and acquisition deals between local and foreign companies. Moreover, multiple foreign automakers announced their intention to enter the Pakistani market, and some also entered into joint ventures with local conglomerates. This indicates that Pakistan is clearly on foreign investors' radar, and provides a positive outlook for FDI inflows going forward. government's successful issuance of a US$1.0 billion Sukuk in the international capital market, at an extremely low rate of 5.5 percent. Besides, Pakistan continued to enjoy support from international financial institutions (IFIs) like the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and from bilateral partners like China, in the post-EFF period: net official loan inflows of US$1.1 billion were recorded during the period. As a result, the country's FX reserve amounted to US$20.8 billion by 4 May 2017 sufficient to finance around four months of import payments.^[138]

Amounts in million US dollars^[139]
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023
Credit	37.25	35.36	38.14	47.70	48.24	50.20	51.15	52.90	51.24	52.22	55.15	55.79	54.25	65.12	73.20	64.35
Debit	51.12	44.62	42.08	47.49	52.90	52.69	54.28	55.71	56.20	64.49	74.34	69.23	58.70	67.94	90.68	66.91
Net	−13.87	−9.26	−3.95	214	−4.66	−2.50	−3.13	−2.82	−4.96	−12.27	−19.20	−13.43	−4.45	−2.82	−17.48	−2.56
As % of GDP
Net	-8.9	-5.7	-2.3	+0.1	-2.1	-1.1	-1.3	-1.0	-1.7	-4.0	-6.1	-4.8	-1.7	-0.6

Economic aid

Pakistan receives economic aid from several sources as loans and grants. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc. provide long-term loans to Pakistan. Pakistan also receives bilateral aid from developed and oil-rich countries. Foreign aid has been one of the main sources of money for the Pakistani economy. Collection of foreign aid has been one of the priorities of almost every Pakistani Government with the Prime Minister himself leading delegations on a regular basis to collect foreign aid.^[140]^[141]

The Asian Development Bank will provide close to $6 billion development assistance to Pakistan during 2006–9.^[142] The World Bank unveiled a lending programme of up to $6.5 billion for Pakistan under a new four-year, 2006–2009, aid strategy showing a significant increase in funding aimed largely at beefing up the country's infrastructure.^[143] Japan will provide $500 million annual economic aid to Pakistan.^[144] In November 2008, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a loan of 7.6 billion to Pakistan, to help stabilise and rebuild the country's economy. Between the 2008 and 2010 fiscal years, the IMF extended loans to Pakistan totalling 5.2 billion dollars.^[145] The government decided in 2011 to cut off ties with the IMF. However, the government newly elected in 2013 re-established these ties, and a negotiated a three-year $6.6 billion package which would allow it to deal with ongoing debt issues.^[146] In May 2019, Pakistan finalised a US$6 billion foreign aid with IMF.^[147] This is Pakistan's 22nd such bailout from the IMF.^[148]

The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is being developed with a contribution of mainly concessionary loans from China under the Belt and Road Initiative. Much like BRI, the value of CPEC investments transcends any fiat currency and is only estimated vaguely as it spans over decades of past and future industrial development and global economic influence.

Remittances

The remittances of Pakistanis living abroad have played an important role in Pakistan's economy and foreign exchange reserves. Pakistanis settled in Western Europe and North America are significant sources of remittances to Pakistan. Since 1973, Pakistani workers in the oil-rich Arab states have been sources of billions of dollars of remittances.

The 9 million-strong Pakistani diaspora contributed US$19.3 billion to the economy in FY2017.^[149] The major source countries of remittances to Pakistan include UAE, US, Saudi Arabia, GCC countries (including Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman), Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, UK, and EU countries.

Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistani workers saw a negative growth of 3.0% in the fiscal year 2017 compared to the previous year when remittances reached an all-time high of 19.9 billion US dollars. This decline in remittances is mainly due to the adverse economic conditions in Arabian and Gulf countries after the fall in oil prices in 2016. However, recent development activities in the Qatar FIFA World Cup, Dubai Expo, Saudi Arabia's implementation of its Vision 2030, and particularly the recent visit of the PM to Kuwait should all be helpful in opening new avenues for employment in these countries. Going forward, one can expect improvements in the coming years. The SBP's data showed that remittances amounted to $29.4 billion for the year 2021. The government and SBP took measures to incentivise the use of formal channels of sending money home. The orderly foreign exchange market conditions also contributed to the rise in remittances. Remittances helped improve the country's external sector position despite the challenging global economic conditions due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Data is taken from SBP and Ministry of Finance.^[150]^[151]^[52]

**Amounts are in billion US$**
List	FY 2008	FY 2009	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Workers' remittances	6.4	7.8	8.9	11.2	13.1	13.9	15.8	18.7	19.9	19.4	19.9	21.7	23.1	29.5	31.3	27.3	30.3

Remittances sent home by overseas Pakistanis in the fiscal year 2020/21 are as follows:^[132]

Country	(Billion US$)
Saudi Arabia	7.667
UAE	6.114
UK	4.067
Gulf Cooperation Council	3.310
USA	2.754
European Union	2.709
Australia	0.594
Canada	0.586
Malaysia	0.204
Norway	0.111
Japan	0.085
Switzerland	0.041
Other countries	1.130

Economic issues

2022 Pakistan economic crisis

Corruption

Corruption is an ongoing issue in the government, with claims of initiatives against it,^[152] particularly at the government and lower levels of police forces.^[153] In 2011, the country consistently ranked poorly on the Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, with scores of 2.5,^[154] 2.3 in 2010,^[155] and 2.5 in 2009^[156] out of 10.^[157] In 2011, Pakistan ranked 134th on the index, with 42 countries ranking worse.^[158] In 2012, Pakistan's ranking dropped further from 134 to 139, making Pakistan the 34th most corrupt country in the world, tied with Azerbaijan, Kenya, Nepal, and Nigeria.^[159] However, during the Sharif regime (2013–17), Pakistan improved its ranking to 117th out of 180 countries in 2017 (with an improvement in score from 28, 29, 30, 32, 32 [2013–17]), equal to Egypt (better than 59 countries).^[160] Due to the adverse effects of corruption on the country, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was established in 1999. The primary purpose of NAB was to recover looted money from corrupt elements and deposit it in the national exchequer. From 2018 to 2020, NAB recovered Rs 502 billion from corrupt elements, a record achievement. Since the bureau's inception, NAB has recovered Rs 814 billion directly or indirectly from corrupt elements, exceeding the recovery of other such anti-corruption organizations.^[161]

Debt

According to the CIA World Factbook, in 2017, Pakistan ranked 57th in the world in terms of public external debt to various international monetary authorities (owing ~$107.527 billion in 2019), accounting for a total of 67.1% of GDP (in 2017).^[162]

Government debt and liabilities data is sourced from the State Bank of Pakistan.^[163]^[164]^[165]

List	Jun 2010	Jun 2011	Jun 2012	Jun 2013	Jun 2014	Jun 2015	Jun 2016	Jun 2017	Jun 2018	Jun 2019	Jun 2020	Jun 2021	Jun 2022	Jun 2023	Jun 2024
(Amounts are in Billion PKR)
Gross public debt	9,010	10,771	12,697	14,292	15,991	17,380	19,677	21,409	24,953	32,708	36,399	39,866	49,242	62,881	71,246
Total debt of govt.	8,411	9,928	11,890	13,457	14,624	15,986	17,823	19,635	23,024	29,521	33,235	35,669	44,362	57,779	65,080
(Amounts are in Billion US$)
Public external debt	53.6	57.9	55.9	51.2	54.7	54.7	61.4	66.1	75.4	83.9	87.9	95.2	100.0	94.9	98.3
As % of GDP
Gross public debt	60.6	58.9	63.3	63.9	63.5	63.3	60.1	60.2	63.7	74.7	76.6	71.5	73.9	75.0	67.2
Total debt of govt.	56.6	54.3	59.3	60.1	58.1	58.3	54.5	55.2	58.7	67.4	69.9	63.9	66.6	68.9	61.4
Public external debt	30.8	27.2	26.4	22.7	21.5	20.3	19.6	19.5	23.4	31.2	31.1	26.9	30.5	32.3	25.8

Pakistan's external debt servicing includes the repayment of both the principal amount borrowed and the accrued interest.^[166]

Amounts are in million US$
List	FY 2010	FY 2011	FY 2012	FY 2013	FY 2014	FY 2015	FY 2016	FY 2017	FY 2018	FY 2019	FY 2020	FY 2021	FY 2022	FY 2023	FY 2024
Principal	3,140	2,458	3,294	5,046	5,659	3,499	3,076	4,439	3,326	6,527	9,630	10,188	11,577	15,061	9,273
Interest	1,015	1,074	1,019	933	909	1,172	1,346	1,626	2,317	2,951	3,229	2,229	2,985	4,421	5,457
Total	4,155	3,532	4,313	5,979	6,568	4,671	4,422	6,065	5,642	9,478	12,859	12,417	14,562	19,482	14,730

Notes

^ ^a ^b Excluded territories

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