Some facts for the faint hearted Pakistanis
The Gallup 2012 Well Being survey reports that 20% of Pakistanis say they are "thriving". Even with the high levels of corruption and security situations facing the country, Pakistan still ranks better than their neighbours in Bangladesh (16%) and India (11%).
Pakistan's Stock Markets are booming, hitting new 4-year highs. Share prices are driven by healthy profits and foreign buying, making the KSE-100 the third fastest growing index in the world.
Pakistan’s bustling IT Industry is now worth $2.8 billion and growing. Pakistan also leads the world in biometric IT services with the world’s biggest biometric database.
Today, Pakistan's economy is the 27th largest in the world. As Part of "the Next 11" group of nations, it is one of the top 15 emerging economies (BRIC + Next11). Pakistan will be among the top 20 largest economies in the world by 2020.
Preliminary official estimates are indicating that Pakistan's nominal per capita income has increased by 9% to $1372 in 2011-12 from $1258 in 2010-11.
Pakistan is still a country with significant population of poor people. However, its recent levels of poverty are among the lowest in South Asia. Life expectancy in Pakistan has jumped from 32 years in 1947 to 67 years in 2009. Preliminary estimates are also showing that the poverty rate in Pakistan has declined from 17.2% in 2008 to 12% in 2011.
Literacy is also a very important indicator of progress. Though the literacy in Pakistan has increased from about 10% in 1947 to about 60% today, it remains dismally low relative to many other nations. However, a closer examination of literacy data by age groups shows that the literacy rates are rising by every generation.
Age +55 = 30%
Ages 15 to 25 = 70% (Male 80%, Female 60% - UNICEF)
Enabling virtual education is the high-speed broadband expansion led by PTCL which has propelled Pakistan to become the fourth fastest growing broadband market in the world and the second fastest in Asia, according to a recent industry report. Serbia leads all countries surveyed with a 68% annual growth rate from 2010 to 2011. Thailand (67%), Belarus (50%), Pakistan (46%), and Jordan (44%) all follow Serbia.
Based on hunger data collected from 2003 to 2008, The International Food Policy Research (IFPRI) has reported that Pakistan's hunger index score improved over the last three consecutive years reported since 2008 from 21.7 (2008) to 21.0 (2009) to 19.1 (2010) and its ranking rose from 61 to 59.
The Gallup survey confirms that only 28% of Pakistanis have confidence in their national government which stems from the obvious failure of the state in delivering basic services such as rule-of-law, security and electricity to the people. The best way to improve the well-being of the people is to improve governance, reduce corruption and persuade people to pay taxes to give the state more resources.
While the worst 5% of the Pakistan story gets all the headlines, the reality of Pakistan today as vibrant society and a strong nation gets ignored by the mainstream media. The real story of Pakistan is the resilience of its 180 million citizens who continue to strive to make it better and stronger.
