India vs Pakistan Economy: GDP, Growth, Trade and Per-Capita Income Compared

India and Pakistan started as one economy in 1947. Today, India’s GDP is roughly ten times Pakistan’s — but the comparison is more interesting than the headline. This guide compares the two economies across GDP, growth, exports, reserves, per-capita income and outlook, with date-stamped IMF figures.

Side-by-Side Comparison Table

All figures IMF World Economic Outlook, 2025 data (October 2025 vintage) unless noted:

• Nominal GDP: India ~$4.13T (5th–6th) | Pakistan ~$410B (42nd)
• GDP (PPP): India ~$16.2T (3rd) | Pakistan ~$1.57T (27th)
• PPP per capita: India ~$11,160 | Pakistan ~$6,252
• Real growth 2025: India 7.7% | Pakistan 3.2%
• Growth 2026 (proj.): India 6.4% | Pakistan 3.6%
• Population: India ~1.45bn | Pakistan ~255m
• Exports (goods + services): India $800bn+ | Pakistan ~$30–35bn
• Forex reserves: India $600bn+ | Pakistan ~$10–15bn (SBP, fluctuates with IMF tranches)
• Main exports: India — IT services, pharma, engineering goods, petroleum products | Pakistan — textiles (~60%), rice, IT services (fastest-growing)

How the Economies Diverged

In the 1960s, Pakistan’s economy actually grew faster than India’s — the “Decade of Development” under Ayub Khan is still cited. The divergence came in the 1990s: India liberalised in 1991, opening to foreign investment and building its IT services industry, while Pakistan lurched through political instability, sanctions (1998 nuclear tests), the war on terror’s economic costs, and repeated balance-of-payments crises. By the 2010s the gap was structural, not cyclical.

Each Country’s Economic Strengths

• India: the world’s largest IT services exporter, a pharmaceutical powerhouse (“pharmacy of the world”), a huge domestic market, deep capital markets, and $600bn+ in reserves.
• Pakistan: a young, fast-growing population; one of the world’s top textile and rice exporters; a rapidly growing IT sector (among the fastest-growing in the region); strategic location for trade corridors including CPEC; and large remittance inflows (over $30bn a year) that stabilise the external account.

Outlook: The Next Five Years

The IMF projects India overtaking the UK by 2027 and Japan by 2028, becoming the world’s 3rd-largest nominal economy by the early 2030s with GDP near $6.8 trillion. Pakistan’s trajectory hinges on its IMF programme: sustained reform, export diversification beyond textiles, and IT growth could lift growth toward 5–6%. The honest summary: the absolute gap will likely widen this decade, but Pakistan’s per-capita and growth story is its own race to run. See the full GDP of Pakistan vs India pillar and Pakistan’s GDP growth rate and outlook.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is India’s economy bigger than Pakistan’s?

Yes — about ten times bigger in both nominal (~$4.13T vs ~$410B) and PPP (~$16.2T vs ~$1.57T) terms, per IMF 2025 data.

Which country grows faster, India or Pakistan?

India: 7.7% real growth in 2025 vs Pakistan’s 3.2%. India has been the fastest-growing major economy for most of the last decade.

What does Pakistan export vs India?

Pakistan’s exports (~$30–35bn) are led by textiles (~60%), followed by rice and growing IT services. India’s ($800bn+) are led by IT services, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods and refined petroleum.

Is Pakistan’s per-capita income close to India’s?

Closer than the headline suggests: India’s PPP per-capita income (~$11,160) is about 1.8x Pakistan’s (~$6,252) — the population difference explains most of the 10x GDP gap.