Provinces of Pakistan

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, consists of five provinces, two federal territories and one autonomous territory. The most populous are Punjab with 110 million people, Sindh with 48 million people, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 31 million people.

Megacities of Pakistan

Pakistan has experienced rapid urbanization with a sevenfold increase in urban population from 1950 to 2011. This has led to the emergence of “megacities” such as Karachi with 25 million people - equivalent to the entire population of Australia.

Pakistan has 12 cities with over a million inhabitants. The most populous are:

1. Karachi: 24.5 million
2. Lahore: 11.0 million
3. Faisalabad: 4.2 million

Too many people? 

Overpopulation has been labelled Pakistan’s biggest problem because it results in a constant shortage of, basically, everything. Or as Professor Ijaz Ahsan puts it:

“Actually there is no shortage of anything; there are just too many people (...) Pakistan is like a Corolla (Toyota car) that is carrying sixteen men, women and children! Or, in other words, it is as if the population of three countries the size of Pakistan had come and settled over here. No country can cope with such an explosion in its population”. 

- Prof. Ijaz Ahsan FRCS, FCPS

A disaster in the making?

With an average birth rate of 3.6 per woman Pakistan has one of the highest birth rates in the world outside Africa. Pakistan’s birth rate has been called a “disaster in the making” because people are already struggling to sustain its current population and with high poverty and illiteracy rates. The country simply cannot handle the massive population growth.

A poor country with a young population

In 2017, an estimated 21 percent of the population lived below the poverty line of less than $1.90 a day. Pakistan also has a very young population. median age of 23.8 years - the world average is 30.4 years. The average life expectancy is 65.9 years which is 1.6 years below the world average of 67.5 years.

Labor force of Pakistan

Pakistan has a working population of 57.9 million people. 43 percent is occupied in the agricultural sector, 20.3 percent in the industrial sector, and 36.6 percent in the service sector.

Size of the economy in Pakistan

Despite being the 5th most populous country in the world, Pakistan is just the world’s 42nd largest economy with a GDP of $304.4 billion. This is a lower economic output than countries such as Denmark with a population of 5.8 million people and Singapore with 5.6 million people. Pakistan’s population is 19 times larger than the populations of Denmark and Singapore combined. 

Main industries in Pakistan

The service sector is the largest economic sector in Pakistan making up 60 percent of GDP. Agriculture and industry both make up about 20 percent. The Textile industry is the largest manufacturing industry in Pakistan making up 8.5 percent of GDP. 

Made in Pakistan: The Pakistan textile industry

The textile industry in Pakistan has been criticised for poor conditions for workers that often work without contracts. The process of certification that in theory should make sure textile factories follow  labor laws and safety regulation is riddled with corruption according to Bureau Veritas, one of the biggest inspections company in the world:

“You will see these factories displaying all these certificates, but when you go there, you find no compliance”.

In 2012, over 250 workers were burnt alive in Baldia, Karachi as a garment factory building burnt to the grown. According to the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) the factory was: 

“...violating each and every law (...) They were storing chemicals in the basement, while all their exits and windows were sealed”.

Main export goods

The main export goods of Pakistan are textiles and furniture accounting for roughly 60 percent of all exports. Next comes food products that make up 23 percent of total exports - rice being the main product with 31 percent of food products (7.3 percent of total exports).

Purchasing power of the population

In terms of purchasing power of the population Pakistan is ranked 135th in the world with a GDP per capita of $5,354 measured in purchasing power parity. 

A rising consumer class in Pakistan?

Despite the massive challenges with poverty, the consumer class in Pakistan is growing. But the pace of the growth is disputed. The Wall Street Journal estimates that up to 42 percent of Pakistan’s population now belong to the upper and middle classes. This has been called an exaggeration (or “bullshit” to be precise). Of course, the size of the middle or consumer class depends on the definition. One study defined the middle class as people with $2-4 per day and “upper middle class” as people living on $4-10 per day. Using these definitions, 55 percent of the Pakistani population was to be considered middle class already in 2015. But compared to western countries, such levels of income are very far from being “consumer class”.

Not really a consumer society in terms of purchasing power per capita

With an average GDP per capita of $5,106 measured in purchasing power parity (PPP), Pakistan is ranked number 135 of world countries - just ahead of Sudan and Ghana and behind several southern saharan countries such as Angola and the Congo. To compare, China has an average GDP per capita measured in PPP three times higher with over $15,000.

Environmental challenges of Pakistan

Environmental issues in Pakistan include deforestation, air pollution, water pollution, pesticide misuse, soil erosion, and desertification.

Air pollution

Air pollution is a major problem in many cities. Karachi's air pollution is among the most severe in the world.

Deforestation 

Pakistan is estimated to lose 42,000 hectares or forest every year or 2.1 percent. Experts warn that the country could virtually run out of forests in 50 years at this current rate of deforestation.

An expanding water crisis 

Pakistan is among the countries in the world most affected by water shortages. Pakistan's water crisis has been called “a Ticking Time Bomb” and according to the UN, 30 to 40 percent of diseases and deaths nationwide are linked to poor water quality.

“Water is the number one problem for the country," 

- Professor Javed Akram, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad.

“Largest mass poisoning in history”

Pakistan also faces disastrous poisoning of the country’s groundwater resources. Drinking water has been polluted with arsenic and threatens to poison up to 60 million people. 

Ecological footprint of Pakistan

Pakistan has a quite low ecological footprint of 0.8 global hectares per person. Globally, 1.73 global hectares are available for each person on the planet so the footprint is within our planet’s biological capacity. But the footprint will undoubtedly increase in coming years due to population and economic growth.