Pakistan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) experienced modest growth, registering a 2.09% increase during the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023-24, according to the latest data released by the National Accounts Committee (NAC) after its 109th meeting.
The NAC has also revised its growth estimates for the first two quarters of the fiscal year upwards; Q1 now stands at 2.71% and Q2 at 1.79%, reflecting an improvement from the initial estimates of 2.50% and 1.0% respectively.
Sector-wise, the agriculture sector showed robust growth at 3.94%, driven largely by significant increases in important crops such as wheat, which grew by 2.89%. The industry sector also saw a healthy increase of 3.84%, despite a 15.75% contraction in the construction industry. This growth was mainly supported by gains in mining and quarrying, large-scale manufacturing, and a remarkable 37.3% rise in the electricity, gas, and water supply sub-sectors.
However, the services sector exhibited slower growth at 0.83%, with a mixed performance across its components. Notably, information and communication, finance and insurance activities, and public administration and social security all saw declines, while education surged by 10.38%.
The committee highlighted that the revised figures for Q1 showed that agriculture remained stable at a growth rate of 8.59%, and improvements were noted in Q2 for this sector due to upward revisions in important and other crops. In contrast, industrial activities saw a revision from negative growth to a slight increase, attributed to positive developments in mining and quarrying and less severe contractions in construction.
Looking forward, the government has set a provisional GDP growth target of 2.38% for the ongoing fiscal year, with agriculture expected to grow by 6.25%, while industry and services are both projected to expand by 1.21%.
