Pakistan has been spending only 2.1 percent of its GDP on education which is the lowest as compared to other South Asian countries including neighboring India.
The data available reveals that it was only in fiscal year 2012-13 when public spending on in Pakistan as percentage to its GDP touched 2 percent. Earlier it was even below 2 percent for many years!
According to Economic Survey of Pakistan 2014-15, over the years out of total public expenditure on education high proportion is being spent on “recurrent heads mainly salaries, leaving a small amount for education sector development.” For example, in fiscal year 2013-14, the total expenditure on education was Rs. 537.60 billion out of which only around Rs 84 billion was for the development while rest of the Rs 454 billion for current expenditure.
The following charts will explain trends vis-à-vis public expenditure on education.
What is GDP?
Business Dictionary defines Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as “The value of a country’s overall output of goods and services (typically during one fiscal year) at market prices, excluding net income from abroad.”
