Infrastructure of Pakistan:

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise,
or the services and facilities (e.g. Buildings, roads, power supplies) necessary for an economy to function. It can
be generally defined as the set of interconnected structural elements that provide framework supporting an
entire structure of development. Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in the development and is a major
contributor to growth of a country.

Infrastructural situation in Pakistan:

Pakistan’s infrastructural situation is relatively poor by international standards and this has an acute
effect on the lives of every Pakistani in the country. Everyone suffers from electricity shortages and the
lack of proper water and sanitation provisions. Also as the population increases our problems have
gotten worse. The Government of Pakistan and its people face an uphill battle against poor
infrastructure and it seems like the latter is winning.

According to the World Economic Forum Survey (2006-07) of 125 countries, Pakistan ranked 67th in basic
infrastructure category. In The Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2012-2013, released by the World
Economic Forum, Pakistan is graded among bottom 20 of the 144 economies around the world.

But according to the recent report released by World Bank on April 20 th 2018, Pakistan has become one of
top five countries across the globe in Private Infrastructure Investment (PPI) during the year 2017 as
it received $5.9 billion during the year. The report said that the South Asia Region attracted $11.7
billion in investments in 2017, which was 90 per cent higher than the 2016 level. This increase was
mainly driven by Pakistan, which received $5.9 billion in investments in 2017, far above the 2016 level
of $1.7 billion. So In 2017, this rise put Pakistan on the list of the world’s top five PPI investment
destinations.

Global infrastructure ranking:

transport Electricity ICT education health security Public

& institutions
telephony
Malaysia 14 48 57 91 52 48 32
China 29 69 74 93 71 68 46
India 35 116 117 109 109 89 72
Sri Lanka 52 79 100 89 61 59 49
Pakistan 80 126 111 126 111 137 111
Philippines 104 101 93 83 97 117 112
Benin 115 118 120 123 120 95 91
Bangladesh 117 137 132 118 107 103 112
Problem in infrastructure:
Population a major problem in infrastructure:

Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world. Internal pressures in the country with the world’s sixth
largest population with a population exceeding 180 million people. At 2.03 percent Pakistan has the highest
population growth rate in South Asia.

It is expected that by 2030 Pakistan’s population will exceed 242 million.

Pakistan’s health and education infrastructures are poorly funded, and experts have questioned the quality of
what is being provided with existing budgets. With a weak economy and low growth, food insecurity and
unemployment present further challenges. The problem is that a lot of the population is illiterate and does not
have proper training, and cannot participate meaningfully in the economy. Hence growing population demands
growth in production or otherwise the infrastructure is affected especially the social infrastructure. Growing
population creates a greater need of infrastructural development.