Summary Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Pakistan’s literacy rate reached 63%, GDP topped $452 billion and per capita income rose to $1,901 despite economic and regional challenges.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said literacy rate has spiked to 63 percent in Pakistan.
The finance czar revealed it while presenting the Economic Survey for outgoing fiscal year 2025-26.
He acknowledged that the agriculture and industrial growth targets were not achieved during the outgoing fiscal year.
He said the country began the outgoing fiscal year with uncertainty due to tariffs. “Then, by the end of July, we reached a point where we could be in a competitive position with respect to our exports, especially to the US,” he added.
Then there were floods in August and September 2025, followed by a regional conflict in March this year.
“These challenges tested Pakistan’s resilience,” he said, adding that the government was able to deal with them and remained on the path of moving from stabilisation to growth.
Referring to developments in the Middle East, the finance minister said Pakistan’s economic performance remained resilient despite the regional crisis, adding that GDP growth could have exceeded 4% if the situation had not emerged.
He said the size of Pakistan’s economy had crossed $452 billion, reaching $452.1 billion during the fiscal year, while per capita income rose from $1,751 to $1,901.
Providing sector-wise performance, Aurangzeb noted that the cement sector grew by 10%, fertiliser by 17%, and petroleum by 5%. He added that Pakistan’s current account remained in surplus at $72 million during the July–March period.
He said positive growth trends were recorded across 16 sectors, including food and textiles, with 16 out of 22 manufacturing sectors showing improvement during the fiscal year. Demand for goods increased notably, supported by the digital economy, while the services sector posted 4.9% growth.
