Islamabad:
There are more than 600,000 mosques and 23,000 factories in Pakistan, while the service sector uses 45% of the total workforce, discrediting the myth that the industry is the main work creation sector in the country, according to the findings of the first economic census of Pakistan.
The economic census also revealed that of a total of 40 million permanent units in Pakistan, there were about 7.2 million labor structures where 25.4 million people worked from 2023. The information had been obtained as part of the population census, but the report was officially published on Thursday by the minister to plan Ahsan IQBAL. It was the third detailed report launched by the Ministry of Planning after the population census and the agriculture census, completing the missing pieces that had hindered economic planning based on information in Pakistan since 1947.
The report showed that the Punjab and Karachi division have the highest concentration of economic establishments and workforce. He stressed that there were 600,000 mosques in Pakistan, and more than 36,000 religious seminars, predominantly in Punjab. However, there were only 23,000 factories in addition to 643,000 small production units.
Of a total workforce of 25.4 million, the highest proportion is dedicated to the services sector, which represents 45% or 11.3 million, according to the report. This is followed by the social sector with 30% or 7.6 million workers. The production sector used only 22% of the total workforce, which is half of the number of people working in the services sector.
Punjab has the greatest workforce, with 13.6 million workers, leading both in the production and services sectors. Sindh continues with 5.7 million workers, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has 4 million workers and Baluchistan with a workforce of only 1.4 million.
The report showed that most companies in Pakistan are on a small scale, which use only a handful of people, partly because the service sector is considered less intensive at work. Up to 7.1 million economic structures employ between 1 and 50 people. The number of companies that employ between 51 and 250 is simply 35,351, while there are only 7,086 units that use more than 250 people.
“The credible data is the backbone of sustainable development, since it allows evidence -based planning and effective decision making,” Iqbal said while talking at the launch ceremony. He stressed that even artificial intelligence cannot function effectively without reliable data, pointing out that in the digital economy, data is the true growth of fuel. The report also showed that 7.2 million registered establishments that have also been geographical, important classifications include 2.7 million retail stores, 188,000 wholesale stores, 256,000 hotels and 119,000 hospitals. There were also 242,000 schools, 11,568 schools, 214 universities, 604,000 mosques and 19,645 banks. El País has 29,836 public offices and 10,452 semi -governments.
The objectives of the economic census are to provide a complete and detailed image of the structure and characteristics of the economy and collect information about the nature of the activity, size, employment and property of establishments. Iqbal said that, although neighboring countries have carried out regular economic censuses since 1977, Pakistan had been delayed. It was attempted in 2003, but failed when questions related to the activity to the population census framework were added. India has carried out seven economic censuses, while Bangladesh, who separated from Pakistan in 1971, has so far carried out three.
Of 7.2 million economic structures, approximately 3.2 million establishments are in the category of wholesale and retail trade; Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Around 696,000 establishments belong to manufacturing, while the number of establishments involved in education is 326,000. Most establishments in Pakistan are under the service sector with 58%, followed by the production sector with 25%and the social sector with 14%. A small proportion of 3% is classified as “others”, which indicates a limited activity outside these main sectors.
There are a total of 242,616 schools, mainly administered by the Government and 11,568 universities, with a slightly higher participation in the private sector. The country has 214 universities, 36,331 Madrasas and 119,789 hospitals, where private facilities constitute the majority. In general, Punjab leads in public and private institutions. Around 5.6 million homes are dedicated to some form of economic activity, and more than half – 51.4% – are involved in animal agriculture, which makes it the most common activity. About 41% of households are dedicated to several other un specified or miscellaneous activities. About 3.9%of households are involved in adaptation, while embroidery represents 1.4%and poultry agriculture of 1.3%. The smallest percentages are dedicated to the packaging or preparation of food at home, beauty salons and online services, each with less than 1%.
Most of the structures in Pakistan are in Punjab, which has 58% of total establishments. Sindh is 20%, followed by KP with 15%. Baluchistan represents 6%, while Islamabad has the smallest participation with only 1%. This means that Punjab has the greatest number of structures. In contrast, the relatively lower percentages for Baluchistan and Islamabad reflect their lower density of physical structures compared to other regions.
Residential structures constitute the greatest participation with 79.4% of total buildings, indicating a strong approach to housing. KP has the highest proportion of residential structures in 81.6%. In general, Pakistan infrastructure is predominantly residential, with less emphasis on mixed or purely economic buildings. The total number of several -story structures in Pakistan is 114,148, of which 64.4% are residential of several floors, 29% are residential and economic for mixed use, and 6.7% are purely economic structures. Sindh represents most of the residential structures of several floors.
