Pakistan » Introduction

Basic Economic Facts

GDP composition by Sector

Pakistan is a rapidly developing country which has faced a number of challenges on the political and economic fronts. Despite being a very poor country in 1947, Pakistan's economic growth rate was better than the global average during the subsequent four decades, but imprudent policies led to a slowdown in the late 1990s. Recently, wide-ranging economic reforms have resulted in a stronger economic outlook and accelerated growth especially in the manufacturing and financial services sectors.

There has been a great improvement in the foreign exchange position and a rapid growth in hard currency reserves in recent years. The 2005 estimate of foreign debt was close to US$40 billion. However, this has decreased in recent years with assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and debt-relief from the United States. Pakistan's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 was estimated at US$385.2 billion and its per capita GDP was US$2,400. In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005, Pakistan's GDP growth rate was 8.4%, the second-highest after China, among the ten most populous countries in the world.

The growth of non-agricultural sectors has changed the structure of the economy, and agriculture now only accounts for roughly 20% of the GDP. The service sector accounts for 53% of the country's GDP with wholesale and retail trade forming 30% of this sector. In 2006, Ministry of Railways announced that Gwadar will be connected to Pakistan Railways network at a cost of $ 1.25 billion (Rs. 75-billion).