ISLAMABAD:
There are over 600,000 mosques and 23,000 factories in Pakistan, while the services sector employs 45% of the total workforce, debunking the myth that industry is the country’s main job-creating sector, according to the findings of Pakistan’s first-ever economic census.
The economic census also revealed that out of a total of 40 million permanent units in Pakistan, there were about 7.2 million employment structures where 25.4 million people were working as of 2023. The information had been obtained as part of the population census, but the report was officially released on Thursday by Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal. It was the third such detailed report launched by the planning ministry after the population census and the agriculture census, completing the missing pieces that had hindered information-based economic planning in Pakistan since 1947.
The report showed that Punjab and Karachi Division have the highest concentration of both economic establishments and workforce. It highlighted that there were 600,000 mosques in Pakistan, and over 36,000 religious seminaries, predominantly in Punjab. However, there were only 23,000 factories in addition to 643,000 small production units.
Out of a total workforce of 25.4 million, the largest proportion is engaged in the services sector, accounting for 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 employed only 22% of the total workforce, which is half the number of people working in the services sector.
Punjab has the largest workforce, with 13.6 million workers, leading in both the production and services sectors. Sindh follows with 5.7 million workers, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has 4 million workers and Balochistan with a workforce of only 1.4 million.
The report showed that most businesses in Pakistan are small scale, employing only a handful of people, partly because the service sector is considered less job intensive. As many as 7.1 million economic structures employ between 1 and 50 people. The number of firms employing between 51 and 250 is merely 35,351, while there are only 7,086 units that employ more than 250 people.
“Credible data is the backbone of sustainable development, as it enables evidence-based planning and effective decision-making,” said Iqbal while speaking at the launching ceremony. He emphasised that even artificial intelligence cannot function effectively without reliable data, noting that in the digital economy, data is the true fuel driving growth. The report further showed that out of 7.2 million recorded establishments that have also been geo-tagged, major classifications include 2.7 million retail shops, 188,000 wholesale shops, 256,000 hotels, and 119,000 hospitals. There were also 242,000 schools, 11,568 colleges, 214 universities, 604,000 mosques, and 19,645 banks. The country has 29,836 public offices and 10,452 semi-government offices.
The objectives of the economic census are to provide a complete and detailed picture of the structure and characteristics of the economy and to collect information on the nature of activity, size, employment, and ownership of establishments. Iqbal noted that while neighbouring countries have conducted regular economic censuses since 1977, Pakistan had lagged behind. An attempt was made in 2003 but failed when activity-related questions were added into the population census framework. India has conducted seven economic censuses, while Bangladesh, which separated from Pakistan in 1971, has so far conducted three.
Out of 7.2 million economic structures, approximately 3.2 million establishments lie in the category of wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. About 696,000 establishments belong to manufacturing, while the number of establishments involved in education stands at 326,000. A majority of establishments in Pakistan fall under the services sector with 58%, followed by the production sector at 25% and the social sector at 14%. A small proportion of 3% is classified as “others,” indicating limited activity outside these main sectors.
There are a total of 242,616 schools, mostly government-run, and 11,568 colleges, with a slightly higher share in the private sector. The country has 214 universities, 36,331 madrassas, and 119,789 hospitals, where private facilities make up the majority. Overall, Punjab leads in both public and private institutions. About 5.6 million households are engaged in some form of economic activity, and more than half – 51.4% – are involved in animal farming, making it the most common activity. Around 41% of households are engaged in various other unspecified or miscellaneous activities. Some 3.9% of households are involved in tailoring, while embroidery accounts for 1.4%, and poultry farming 1.3%. Smaller percentages are engaged in food packing or preparation at home, beauty parlours, and online services, each contributing less than 1%.
Most of the structures in Pakistan are in Punjab, which has 58% of the total establishments. Sindh has 20%, followed by K-P with 15%. Balochistan accounts for 6%, while Islamabad has the smallest share with only 1%. This means Punjab has the highest number of structures. In contrast, the relatively lower percentages for Balochistan and Islamabad reflect their lower density of physical structures compared to other regions.
Residential structures make up the largest share at 79.4% of total buildings, indicating a strong focus on housing. K-P has the highest proportion of residential structures at 81.6%. Overall, Pakistan’s infrastructure is predominantly residential, with less emphasis on mixed-use or purely economic buildings. The total number of multi-story structures in Pakistan is 114,148, of which 64.4% are multi-story residential, 29% are mixed-use residential and economic, and 6.7% are purely economic structures. Sindh accounts for a majority of multi-story residential structures.
