what is current GDP of Pakistan?

Economy of Pakistan

The economy of Pakistan is the 24th-largest worldwide in terms of GDP based on purchasing power parity. According to a 2021 estimate, the Country has a population of 227 million people, the nominal GDP of Pakistan stands at the US $347 billion with a nominal GDP per capita of US $1,562 (160th worldwide). Its GDP based on PPP stands at the US $1.468 trillion with a GDP (PPP) per capita of US $6,470 (140th worldwide). Pakistan is a developing country with a semi-industrial economy. Primary export commodities include textiles, leather goods, sports equipment, chemicals, and carpets/rugs.

The growth poles of Pakistan's economy are situated along the Indus River, the diversified economies of Karachi, and major urban centers in Punjab, co-existing with lesser developed areas in other parts of the country. The Pakistani economy has suffered in the past from internal political turmoil, a rapidly growing population, and mixed levels of foreign investment. Foreign exchange reserves are bolstered by steady worker remittance, but a growing current account deficit—driven by a widening trade gap as import growth outstrips export expansion—could draw down reserves and dampen GDP growth in the medium term. Pakistan is currently undergoing a process of economic liberalization, including the privatization of all government corporations, which is aimed at attracting foreign investment and decreasing budget deficits.

As of May 2021, the Pakistan government has predicted that future growth rates will be 5 percent—one of the highest in South Asia. According to the World Bank, the poverty levels in Pakistan fell from 64.3 percent in 2001 to 21.9 percent in 2018. The country's improving macroeconomic position has led Moody's Investors Service to upgrade Pakistan's debt outlook to stable. In 2017, Pakistan's GDP (PPP) crossed US$1 trillion. In 2021, the estimated GDP (PPP) stood at US$1.33 trillion. The current account deficit is one of the challenges that the country's economy is managing after hikes in the prices of international commodities. By May 2019, the Pakistani rupee had undergone a year-on-year depreciation of 30 percent vis-a-vis the US dollar. 2020 saw the beginning of Phase 2 of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, with the new billion-dollar agreement.

Economic history, First five decades.

Pakistan was a predominantly agricultural country when it gained Independence in 1947 as a result of the partition of India by the departing British. Pakistan's average economic growth rate in the first five decades (1947–1997) has been higher than the growth rate of the world economy during the same period. Average annual real GDP growth rates were 6.8% in the 1960s, 4.8% in the 1970s, and 6.5% in the 1980s. Average annual growth fell to 4.6% in the 1990s with significantly lower growth in the second half of that decade.

Background.

Pakistan's economy in the period 2008-2012 has been characterized as unstable and highly vulnerable to external and internal shocks. However, the economy proved to be unexpectedly resilient in the face of multiple adverse events concentrated into a four-year (1998–2002) period:

The Asian financial crisis;

Economic sanctions – according to Colin Powell, Pakistan was sanctioned to the eyeballs.

The global recession  of 2001–2002;

A severe drought – the worst in Pakistan's history, lasting about four years; the post-9/11 military action in neighboring Afghanistan, with a massive influx of refugees from that country;

Terrorism has also severely impacted the economy.

Macroeconomic reform and prospects.

According to many sources, the Pakistani government has made substantial economic reforms since 2000, and medium-term prospects for job creation and poverty reduction are the best in nearly a decade.

Doing business.

The World Bank (WB) and International Finance Corporation's flagship report Ease of Doing Bussiness 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.

Stock market.

In the first four years of the twenty-first century, Pakistan's KSE 100 Index was the best-performing stock market index in the world as declared by the international magazine Business Week. The stock market capitalization of listed companies in Pakistan was valued at $5,937 million in 2005 by the World Bank.

Pakistan's stock market's performance has been remarkable in FY2021. During July 2020 to April 2021 period, the benchmark KSE-100 index improved from 34,889.41 points to 44262.35 points. Pakistan Stock exchange also successfully powered 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.

Poverty alleviation expenditures.

Pakistan's government spent over 1 trillion rupees (about $16.7 billion) on poverty alleviation programs during the past four years, cutting poverty from 35% in 2000–01 to 29.3% in 2013 and 17% in 2015, Rural poverty remains a pressing issue, as development, there has been far slower than in the major urban areas.

Tourism.

Tourism in Pakistan has been 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.

Government revenues and expenditures.

Although the country is a Federation with a 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.

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. On 13 August 2005, the SBP started introducing its fifth-generation design of banknotes with additional security features, with the Rs. 20 note is 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.

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, to preserve the country's export competitiveness.

Foreign exchange reserves.

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 $7749.7 million. The foreign exchange reserves had declined more by $10 billion to a level of $6.59 billion. In January 2020, Pakistan's Foreign exchange reserves stood at US$11.503 billion.

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.

Major sectors.

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 the 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 which are in their jurisdiction. Mining and quarrying contribute 13.19% to the industrial sector and their share of GDP is 2.4%. Pakistan has a large base for industrial minerals. The discovery of coal deposits has over 175 billion tonnes of reserves at Thar in the Sindh province.

Industry.

Pakistan's industrial sector accounts for approximately 19.12% of GDP. In 2021 it recorded a growth of 3.57% as compared to the growth of negative 3.77% in 2020. Manufacturing is the largest of Pakistan's industrial sectors, accounting for approximately 12.13% of GDP. The manufacturing sub-sector is further divided into three components including large-scale manufacturing (LSM) with a share of 79.6% percent in the manufacturing sector, small-scale manufacturing share is 13.8 percent in the manufacturing sector, while slaughtering contributes 6.5 percent in the manufacturing. Major sectors in industries include cement, fertilizer, edible oil, sugar, steel, tobacco, chemicals, machinery, food processing, and medical instruments, primarily surgical. Pakistan is one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of surgical instruments. Large Scale Manufacturing is the fastest-growing sector in the Pakistani economy. Major Industries include textiles, fertilizer, cement, oil refineries, dairy products, food processing, beverages,  construction materials, clothing, paper products, and shrimp.

Services

Pakistan's service sector accounts for about 61.7% of GDP. Transport, storage, communications, finance, and insurance account for 24% of this sector, and wholesale and retail trade for about 30%. Pakistan is trying to promote the information industry and other modern service industries through incentives such as long-term tax holidays.