Pakistan posts mixed economic performance in first quarter of FY26
Strong industrial growth offsets contraction in agriculture, data shows
Haris Zamir
Business Editor
Experience of almost 33 years where started the journey of financial journalism from Business Recorder in 1992. From 2006 onwards attached with Television Media worked at Sun Tv, Dawn Tv, Geo Tv and Dunya Tv. During the period also worked as a stringer for Bloomberg for seven years and Dow Jones for five years. Also wrote articles for several highly acclaimed periodicals like the Newsline, Pakistan Gulf Economist and Money Matters (The News publications)
Pakistan’s economy showed mixed performance in the first quarter of fiscal year 2025-26, with strong growth in industry offset by declines in agriculture and uneven trends in services, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
The agriculture sector contracted by 0.75% during the quarter, mainly due to a sharp 6.37% decline in other crops compared with growth of 19.33% in the same period last year, the bureau said.
The drop was largely attributed to lower green fodder output. Important crops also recorded negative growth, reflecting continued pressure on farm production.
Industry, however, expanded by 9.38%, a sharp improvement from 0.12% growth a year earlier.
Despite the overall increase, mining and quarrying shrank by 4.13% because of declines in the production of gas (down 7.1%), crude oil (4.9%), limestone (6.8%) and other minerals (4.2%), the bureau said.
Large-scale manufacturing posted growth of 4.10% in the first quarter of FY26, based on the Quantum Index of Manufacturing.
Major contributors included food production, which rose 6.30%, automobiles, which surged 84.60%, transport equipment at 40.73%, non-metallic mineral products at 13.86% and rubber products at 14.10%.
Machinery and equipment, however, declined by 14.08%.
Electricity, gas and water supply grew by 25.46%, driven by higher output from WAPDA and other companies.
Construction activity also increased, mainly due to a 15.32% rise in cement production and gains in other indicators.
The services sector recorded growth of 2.35% in the first quarter, slightly higher than 2.24% a year earlier. Wholesale and retail trade expanded by 3.08%, while transport and storage grew by 3.16%.
Finance and insurance posted robust growth of 10.36%, and public administration and social security rose by 8.08%, according to the bureau.
Information and communication services, however, contracted by 28.70%, reflecting a decline in the revenue of mobile phone companies used as an indicator.
The statistics bureau noted that while the industry’s gross value added grew in FY25 and IT exports increased during the first quarter, the short-term decline was due to lower reported revenues and would be fully reflected in the annual national accounts.
Based on the latest national accounts for FY25, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics said the overall size of the economy stood at PKR 113.93 trillion ($407.9 billion).
Per capita income was reported at PKR 506,736, or about $1,814.
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