Bangladesh’s GDP per person is now higher than Pakistan’s

LurkerBaba

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Not sure if this was shared before. An easy datapoint to shut up the "CPEC is transforming Pakistan into Dubai" and "Pakistan is actually secretly super rich" propaganda.

WHEN Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971, it was much poorer than the country it left. Industry accounted for only 6-7% of its GDP, compared with over 20% in Pakistan. The battle for independence had killed or displaced millions, damaged roads and railways, and severed ties with Pakistan’s bankers and industrialists (including the owner of one of the world’s biggest jute mills). Even before the war, Bangladesh had been trampled by another apocalyptic horseman: a cyclone killed hundreds of thousands in 1970. The country’s independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, complained that West Pakistan had not promptly shared its bumper wheat crop or “given a yard of cloth for our shrouds”
Last month revealed a remarkable turnaround. Bangladesh’s GDP per person is now higher than Pakistan’s. Converted into dollars at market exchange rates, it was $1,538 in the past fiscal year (which ended on June 30th). Pakistan’s was about $1,470.

https://www.economist.com/news/asia...t-bangladeshs-gdp-person-now-higher-pakistans
 

Bhurki

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2019 estimated numbers for 'per capita gdp' nominal -
Pakistan - $ 1350
Bangladesh- $ 1900
In fact, the total gdp of bangladesh at $317B is 34% higher than that of pakistan at $236B.(Nominal)
 

Imaxxx

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Comparison to Bombay is pretty much irrelevant..
Its like saying california has a higher gdp than India..
Not really. It is a scale of reference.

#pkmkb #destroypakistan
 

Bhurki

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Which is true isnt it???? .................
Obviously its true(vs bombay). But not as ironic(vs bangaldesh)...
Bangladesh was considered as inferior state by west pak, even uncapable of existing by itself, and now despite having underwhelming natural resources and low strategic standing, its outstripping its cousin..
 

Indx TechStyle

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Comparison to Bombay is pretty much irrelevant..
Its like saying california has a higher gdp than India..
Not for very long. Economies of Mumbai and Delhi are growing faster than Pak while India has nearly caught up with California.
 

Bhurki

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Not for very long. Economies of Mumbai and Delhi are growing faster than Pak while India has nearly caught up with California.
Why the hell would you want to compare a country to a city?
There's a lot of expenses that cities get a free pass on eg. Defense & Security, Import/Export, Diplomatic Projection etc.
Besides, the only use i can think of is chest thumping.
Comparing Pakistan to Bangladesh is much more interesting since they come from same historical background and have equal resources to utilize and comparable expenses to pay.
 

Indx TechStyle

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Why the hell would you want to compare a country to a city?
There's a lot of expenses that cities get a free pass on eg. Defense & Security, Import/Export, Diplomatic Projection etc.
Besides, the only use i can think of is chest thumping.
GDP of a city is actually an indicator of total economic of a city. So, comparing both is either indicator of prowess of city or economic weakness/small size of country.
Comparing Pakistan to Bangladesh is much more interesting since they come from same historical background and have equal resources to utilize and comparable expenses to pay.
Pakistan is a crisis state with no political system in place.
 

Bhurki

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GDP of a city is actually an indicator of total economic of a city. So, comparing both is either indicator of prowess of city or economic weakness/small size of country.
How much does a city spend on military?
How many embassies or diplomatic missions does a city have?
How many resources can a city claim to be its own over any other authorities' jurisdiction?
None.
A country needs to take care of all these factors and has no one to bail it out once it goes bankrupt(even IMF loans need to be paid back), unlike a city which can be saved by its host country.
Pakistan is a crisis state with no political system in place.
Pakistan has always been a quasi military dictatorship. That's just how the country functions. A weakening democracy doesn't weaken its structure. Where other countries have military as an exoskeleton to provide security, Pakistan's military is its endoskeleton which provides the very structure it is molded in. Whenever a threshold is crossed where civil authorities weaken, military takes over. So its a bit hard to gauge when it actually gets weak.
 

Indx TechStyle

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How much does a city spend on military?
How many embassies or diplomatic missions does a city have?
How many resources can a city claim to be its own over any other authorities' jurisdiction?
How much of percentage of GDP is gone there?
A country needs to take care of all these factors and has no one to bail it out once it goes bankrupt(even IMF loans need to be paid back), unlike a city which can be saved by its host country.
It again all depends upon wealth creation and your total expenditure. If you are accounting the factors of city dependency on its patron country, you should also take into account the degree of autonomy of country to defend it.

Demand drives the business and economic activity. Population density drives the infrastructure and improves efficiency of business and profitable industries (or a financial service sector) have to be there to generate wealth for this all.

There are even independent cities, far more successful. Only factor I could agree that administrating a bigger, more populated and geographically diverse landmass is difficult.
Pakistan has always been a quasi military dictatorship. That's just how the country functions. A weakening democracy doesn't weaken its structure. Where other countries have military as an exoskeleton to provide security, Pakistan's military is its endoskeleton which provides the very structure it is molded in. Whenever a threshold is crossed where civil authorities weaken, military takes over. So its a bit hard to gauge when it actually gets weak.
When I called Pakistan a crisis state it doesn't mean that I agree that military has a complete hold of it. Even many military states have been pretty successful.

I say Pakistani administration is highly conflicted. For managing two far away parts of country, they remained confused and took two decades to make an action plan but then they faced a civil war and got a large part detached.

As the state founded by Jinnah collapsed in 1971, it led to an identity crisis as well. A demoralized population would be disastrous. So, they got focused on developing new subconscious ideology of identity rather than tempting people for economic progress unlike inferiority complex that was made to run through our minds.

There have been 22 premiers of Pakistan while none has been able to complete a full term. Dissentions between civil and military leadership always stall everything and change regime.

Pakistan's problems aren't a result of bad governance but in fact lack governance. No one, neither military nor civilians have been able to structure it.

Pakistan isn't that bad itself either. It was growing much faster in 60s, 80s and mid-2000s and in fact was richer than India for most of post independence period.

The current lag is mostly a product of 90s. And as unlike India, Pakistan didn't went on for making institutions and economic structures for whatever reasons, this lag is going to magnify for two or more decades at least.

As for Bangladesh, its good times too are momentary in nature. Lacks economic diversity yet.
 

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