Pakistan

Pakistan: steady but modest growth, 1980–2025

Chronic balance-of-payments crises and recurring IMF bailout programs have punctuated growth driven by agriculture, textiles, and a large, young, but under-employed population. Between 1980 and 2025, Pakistan's GDP per capita grew from $287 to $1,596 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 3.9% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 4.6% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 2.3 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 26.5% to 23.0% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 40.9% to 50.9% of GDP, underscoring a shift toward a services-driven economy. On human development, life expectancy rose from 57.2 to 67.8 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 2.0% to 10.9%, while the urban population share grew from 28.1% to 39.5%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.35 to 0.81 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) widened from 33.3 to 33.5; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 80.6% to 23.0%.