OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies: The People and Economy of Pakistan (9236)

The People and Economy of Pakistan is topic 3.2.2 of OxfordAQA International GCSE Pakistan Studies 9236, a compulsory topic examined in Paper 2, Section B (28 marks). It covers population structure, growth and migration; how the economy has shifted between the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors; trade and indicators of development; and urbanisation, especially the megacities of Karachi and Lahore. Expect data-response items alongside extended answers that ask you to explain and evaluate.

Syllabus coverage

OXFORDAQA INTERNATIONAL GCSE PAKISTAN STUDIES (9236), VERSION 1.9 — 3.2.2

3.2.2.1 Population

• Population structure and the factors that have changed it over time
• Growth and its factors: birth rates, death rates, infant mortality, life expectancy, natural increase
• Physical and human factors affecting density and distribution
• Factors in internal and international migration, and the impact on culture, economy and society

3.2.2.2 Industry and employment

• Changes in the importance of economic sectors over the past 100 years
• Factors in the distribution of agriculture and changes in primary employment
• Type and location of manufacturing, products made, and changes in secondary employment
• Type and location of services, and changes in tertiary and quaternary employment

3.2.2.3 Trade and economic development

• Economic growth and indicators: GDP, HDI, foreign direct investment, international trade
• Key imports and exports and the balance of trade, including remittances
• Trading partners and factors affecting trade; trade blocs and international institutions, including the WTO

3.2.2.4 Urbanisation

• Trends and the physical and human factors behind urban growth, including rural–urban migration and the megacities of Karachi and Lahore
• Economic, social and environmental opportunities (education, innovation, investment) and challenges (employment, housing, pollution)
• The importance of cities for development and strategies to improve urban quality of life

How has Pakistan’s population changed?

Pakistan’s 2023 census counted about 241 million people, making it one of the most populous countries in the world. Its population structure is youthful: a wide-based pyramid with a large share of children and young adults and a small share over 65.

Growth has been rapid because the death rate fell sharply after independence, thanks to vaccination, antibiotics, cleaner water and better food supply, while the birth rate fell much more slowly. Infant mortality has fallen but remains high by international standards, and life expectancy has risen. The gap between births and deaths, the natural increase, has narrowed in recent decades as more girls stay in school, marriage age rises and family planning spreads, but it remains high.

Distribution and density: most people live on the fertile, irrigated Indus Plain of Punjab and Sindh and in large cities, where flat land, water, farming, industry and services support dense settlement. Mountains in the north, the Balochistan plateau and deserts such as the Thar and Kharan are sparsely populated because of steep land, aridity, extreme temperatures and limited jobs and services.

Why do people migrate within and from Pakistan?

Internal migration is mainly rural to urban: push factors include low farm incomes, small holdings, mechanisation, floods and poor services; pull factors include jobs in factories, construction and services, and better schools and hospitals. International migration includes millions of Pakistanis working in the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and communities in the UK, Europe and North America. Pakistan has also received large numbers of Afghan refugees since 1979.

Impacts: emigrants send remittances that support families and the balance of payments; diaspora communities spread Pakistani culture abroad; but the country loses skilled workers such as doctors and engineers (“brain drain”). Internal migration fuels urban growth and informal settlements, while villages lose young workers.

How has the economy changed over the past 100 years?

At independence, Pakistan’s economy was overwhelmingly agricultural, with little industry. Since then:

• Primary sector: agriculture’s share of GDP has fallen steadily, but it still employs more than a third of workers, more than any other single sector. Farming is concentrated on the irrigated plains of Punjab and Sindh, where flat land, fertile alluvial soil, canal water and a long growing season support wheat, cotton, rice and sugar cane.
• Secondary sector: manufacturing grew from the 1950s, led by cotton textiles, then cement, fertiliser, sugar, steel, cars and pharmaceuticals. Factories cluster in Karachi (port, labour, market), Lahore, Faisalabad (textiles, close to cotton) and Sialkot (sports goods and surgical instruments). Textiles remain the largest manufacturing employer and exporter.
• Tertiary and quaternary sectors: services now produce the largest share of GDP. They include retail, transport, banking, telecommunications, health, education and government. Quaternary activities, such as software development, IT outsourcing and research, are growing in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, where skilled graduates, fast internet and investment are concentrated.

How is economic development measured?

Indicator	What it shows	Limitation
GDP	Total value of goods and services produced in a year	Ignores inequality and the informal economy
GDP per capita	Average output per person	Hides gaps between rich and poor, and urban and rural
HDI	Combines life expectancy, education and income	Does not show regional differences
FDI	Investment by foreign companies, e.g. through CPEC	Can create debt or send profits abroad
Trade	Value of exports and imports	Swings with global prices

Pakistan is classed by the UN Development Programme among countries with lower human development, which reflects low adult literacy and high child mortality as well as income.

What does Pakistan trade, and with whom?

Exports: textiles and clothing (the largest group), rice, leather goods, sports goods, surgical instruments, fruit and fish. Imports: petroleum and LNG, machinery, chemicals, palm oil, iron and steel and vehicles. Pakistan usually has a trade deficit, which remittances from overseas workers help to cover. Key partners: China (largest source of imports), the USA (major export market), the UAE and Saudi Arabia (oil and jobs), and the UK and EU. Factors affecting trade: world prices, energy costs, exchange rates, quality standards and political relations.

Trade blocs and institutions: the EU’s GSP+ scheme gives many Pakistani goods tariff-free access to the EU; Pakistan has a free-trade agreement with China and belongs to the Economic Cooperation Organization and SAARC. As a member of the World Trade Organization, it follows global trade rules and can bring disputes to the WTO.

What are the opportunities and challenges of urbanisation?

Around two-fifths of Pakistanis now live in urban areas, and the share is rising. Karachi, the country’s largest city and main port, and Lahore, Punjab’s capital, are both megacities. Growth is driven by rural–urban migration and natural increase, helped by flat coastal or plain sites and transport links.

Opportunities: jobs in industry and services; universities and schools; innovation hubs and start-ups; investment and infrastructure such as Lahore’s Orange Line metro. Challenges: not enough formal jobs, so many work informally; shortage of affordable housing and growth of katchi abadis; traffic congestion; air pollution and winter smog; untreated sewage and waste.

Strategies: low-cost housing schemes; upgrading informal settlements with water and sanitation, as the community-led Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi showed; mass transit such as bus rapid transit lines; tree planting and controls on brick kilns and crop burning to reduce smog.

Frequently asked questions

Why is Pakistan’s population so young? Birth rates have stayed high while death rates fell, so each generation of children has been larger than the last.

What are remittances? Money sent home by Pakistanis working abroad. They are a major source of foreign exchange and help pay for imports.

What is the quaternary sector? Knowledge-based work such as IT, research and consultancy, which is growing in Pakistan’s large cities.

Related pages

• People and Economy revision notes
• People and Economy practice questions
• Landscape and Natural Resources study guide

Source: OxfordAQA, International GCSE Pakistan Studies (9236) specification, Version 1.9, topic 3.2.2; Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, 2023 census headline count.