Pakistan’s GDP grew from $3 billion to $383 billion, per capita income from $86 to $1,798 in 75 years, says a finance ministry report released on Saturday.
The report provides an overview of the country’s 75-year economic journey, with all the main economic indicators passing through massive changes over the period.
At the time of its independence in 1947, Pakistan received only 34 industrial sectors from a total of 921 in undivided India.
The tax revenues showed an increase from Rs 0.31 billion to Rs 6,126.1 billion from 1950-2022, whereas agriculture added 59.9 percent of the total GDP in 1949-50.
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The agriculture sector also showed a significant increase as the production of wheat rose from 3.35 million tonnes in 1958 to 29.4 million tonnes in 2022, rice production grew from 0.69 million tonnes to 9.32 million tonnes, sugarcane jumped from 5.53 million tonnes to 88.65 million tonnes, maize production increased from 0.36 million tonnes to 10.64 million tonnes, cotton from 1.16 million bales to 8.33 million bales and water availability from 63.9 million acre-feet to 131 MAF.
Pakistan’s nominal GDP increased from $3 billion in 1950 to $383 billion in 2022, while GDP growth was registered at 5.97 percent in 2022 against 1.8 percent in 1950. Per capita income went up from $86 in 1950 to $1,798 in 2022.
With regard to the external side, remittances sent by Pakistanis working abroad hiked up from $0.14 billion in FY73 to $31.2 billion in FY22, and exports jumped from $162 million in FY50 to $31.8 billion in FY22, and imports grew from $276 million in FY50 to $80.2 billion in FY22.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail stated that Pakistan built both large and small dams like Tarbela and Mangla, which raised the water storage and availability to 131 MAF in 2022 from 63.9 MAF in 1965-66.
Mr. Ismail said Pakistan emerged as one of the top exporters of textiles, pharmaceutical goods, and food-related items, and the economic strategies of the successive governments have drastically promoted the industry, agriculture, and services sectors.
The determination of its people made Pakistan the world’s 24th largest economy with regard to purchasing power parity and 44th in terms of nominal GDP, the minister said.
He further stated that Pakistan had been ranked among the 50 leading economies of the world having a GDP amounting to $383billion, continuing that it also developed its vibrant banking system that supported economic progress over the years.
