ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) recorded 0.92 percent growth in the first quarter of current fiscal year (July-September).
As per the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), agriculture sector posted a growth of 1.15pc during the period.
Growth of industry and services stood at -1.03pc and 1.43pc respectively. The National Accounts Committee (NAC) has approved the updated growth of GDP during FY 2023-24 at 2.5pc as against the previous estimates of 2.52pc.
The updated growth in agriculture sector has decreased to 6.18pc from 6.36pc due to downward revision in forestry owing to less production of timber.
According to the NAC, important crops contracted by 11.19pc due to decrease in the production of cotton, maize, rice and sugarcane.
The rate of contraction in industry has slowed down from 4.43pc in first quarter of 2023-24 to 1.03pc in the same period of 2024-25.
The service sector grew by 1.43pc in first quarter as compared to 2.16pc in the same period last fiscal year due to the contribution in wholesale & retail trade, accommodation and food services, information and communication, real estate activities, education, human health & social work activities and other private services.
The overall size of the economy stands at Rs105.6 trillion i.e. $373.3 billion. Further, per capita income is $1,669 (Rs472,263).
It is to be noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Pakistan’s GDP growth at 3.2pc for fiscal year 2025 as against 2.4pc in fiscal year 2024.
Recently, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also revised upwards its forecast for Pakistan’s GDP growth in fiscal year 2025 from 2.8pc to 3pc.
