ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s economy grew by 2.4% during the third quarter (January-March) of the 2024-25 financial year, according to new estimates released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Tuesday.
This growth came mainly from the agriculture and services sectors, even though the industrial sector declined by 1.14%, as reported after the 113th meeting of the National Accounts Committee (NAC).
In the agriculture sector, major crops dropped by 11.14%, but other crops increased by 4.84%, helped by higher production of onions (up 11%) and mangoes (up 26%). Livestock grew by 4.42%, forestry by 4.25%, and fishing by 0.50%.
The industrial sector shrank due to declines in mining and quarrying (-3.96%), large-scale manufacturing (-0.89%), electricity and gas supply (-7.72%), and construction (-9.12%).
The services sector performed well, with notable growth in several areas: wholesale and retail trade rose by 1.57%, transport by 0.67%, information and communication by a strong 18.44%, finance and insurance by 10.65%, public administration by 13.73%, education by 4.63%, and health services by 5.06%.
The National Accounts Committee (NAC) also revised previous GDP figures, updating the growth rates for the first and second quarters of 2023-24 to 1.37% and 1.53%, slightly modifying earlier estimates.
For the full fiscal year 2024-25, GDP growth is expected to be 2.68%, lower than the government’s target of 3.6%. Agriculture is forecast to grow by 0.56%, industry by 4.77%, and services by 2.91%.
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Topline Securities predicts economic growth for the full year will be between 2.5% and 3.0%, with agriculture up by 1.8%, industry by 1%, and services by 3.4%.
Pakistan’s economy is now worth Rs114.7 trillion ($410.96 billion), up from Rs105.1 trillion ($371.66 billion). Per capita income has risen to Rs509,174 ($1,824). The NAC also finalized GDP for the previous fiscal year 2022-23 at -0.21%.
