ISLAMABAD: The industrial sector of the country is projected to grow at 5.8 per cent during the current fiscal year 2017-18 against the growth of 5.43 per cent in 2016-17 and 5.69 per cent in 2015-16.
Among the industrial sector, the mining and quarrying sector would grow by 3.04 per cent compared to the negative growth of 0.38 per cent in 2016-17 and increase of 6.19 per cent in 2015-16, according to latest data available for six to eight months and projected for the whole year.
Manufacturing sector would grow by 6.24 per cent in 2018-19 against 5.82 per cent in 2016-17 and 3.69 per cent in 2015-16.
Among the manufacturing sector, the large-scale manufacturing is estimated to grow at 6.13 per cent compared to the growth of 5.62 per cent last year and 2.98 per cent in 2015-16.
Similarly, the small-scale manufacturing would grow by 8.18 per cent compared to 8.15 per cent and 8.19 per cent during the last two consecutive years respectively.
The figures also projected that the construction sector would also grow 9.13 per cent compared to 9.84 per cent in 2016-17 and 13.68 per cent in 2015-16.
Meanwhile, the agriculture sector of the country is estimated to grow by 3.81 per cent during the fiscal year 2017-18 against the growth of 2.07 per cent in 2016-17 and 0.15 per cent in 2015-16, showing considerable improvements as compared to the last couple of years.
Among the agriculture sector, the crops sector witnessed 3.83 per cent growth, with important crops growing by 3.57 per cent and others crops by 3.33 per cent.
During the year 2016-17, the growth of crops was recorded at 0.91 per cent while there was negative growth of 5.27 per cent in 2015-16, the provisional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates revealed.
The cotton ginning sector was the top contributor in terms of percentage to help agriculture sector achieve this growth rate as this sector grew by 8.27 per cent during the period under review.
The cotton ginning had witnessed 5.58 per cent growth in 2016-17 and negative growth of 22.12 in the financial year 2015-16.
Similarly, the livestock sector grew by 3.76 per cent in 2017-18 against the growth of 2.99 per cent in 2016-17 and 3.36 per cent in 2015-16.
The forestry sector also grew by 7.17 per cent in 2017-18, which had witnessed a negative growth of 2.37 per cent in 2016-17 and positive growth of 14.31 per cent in 2015-16.
The fishing sector also witnessed a positive growth of 1.63 per cent in 2017-18 against the growth of 1.23 per cent in 2016-17 and 3.25 per cent in 2015-16, the data revealed.
The provisional GDP estimate for the year 2017-18 has been estimated at 5.79, according to the provisional data.
