A column by Dr Hafiz A. Pasha, “Performance of the Provincial Economies” (Business Recorder, September 2, 2025), highlights a significant institutional weakness: Pakistan still lacks official annual Gross Regional Product (GRP) accounts for its provinces. Economists must therefore estimate provincial performance using information drawn from different sources and statistical extrapolations. Pasha’s study attempts to fill a gap that should have been addressed by the country’s statistical institutions. Drawing on censuses, surveys, statistical publications and other government sources, he estimates the size, composition and growth of the four provincial economies. His findings reveal differences in their economic structures and growth trajectories. Yet these remain research estimates, not an official, regularly updated system of provincial accounts.

The distinction matters. Without reliable provincial GRP data, it is difficult to determine how much economic value each province produces, which sectors drive growth, how productivity changes, or whether public expenditure is expanding productive capacity. National GDP shows the aggregate size of the economy but cannot, by itself, explain why some regions advance while others fall behind. Nor does a province’s share of national GDP reveal how economic activity translates into local employment, household income, tax revenue and investment.

Pasha’s estimates suggest that provincial economies have followed different growth paths, with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa recording stronger estimated growth than Balochistan over the period examined. The fact that an economist must assemble data from multiple sources to assess provincial performance illustrates the gap in the country’s statistical system. The issue is not whether researchers can produce useful estimates, but why the state does not maintain and publish consistent, authoritative provincial accounts.

The problem extends beyond measuring provincial GDP. Pakistan needs a clearer picture of where........

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