Report

Table 1.4 Average Annual Growth of GDP, GDP Per Capita, Exports and Imports
of Goods and Services, 1986 to 2006 (%)
I NTRODUCTION 9
1986–96 1996–2006
Country GDP GDP Export Import GDP GDP Export Import
per capita of Goods of Goods per capita of Goods of Goods
and and and and
Services Services Services Services
Bangladesh 4.2 1.8 11.7 7.5 5.4 3.4 10 6
Bhutan 4.6 4.7 7.2 6.8 7.2 4.5 3.8 6.3
India 5.5 3.5 11.8 10.8 6.4 4.7 13.4 9.9
Nepal 5.1 2.6 – – 3.6 1.3 – –
Sri Lanka 4.7 3.4 7.5 6.2 4.4 3.7 5.5 7
Maldives – – – – 6.9 4.1 7.3 6.5
Pakistan 5 2.3 8 4.3 4.2 1.8 8.2 3.1
Source: WDI
compared to 1986–96, except for Nepal and Pakistan
(Table 1.4).
During the period 1986–96, India recorded an
average annual growth rate of 5.5%, followed by Nepal
at 5.1%, Pakistan at 5%, while growth rate of
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka averaged at around
4%. High GDP growth rates did not contribute to the
improvement in per capita income in these countries,
reflecting a higher population growth rate, with Bhutan
being an exception. While Bhutan displayed a
phenomenal improvement in the average growth rate
of GDP during 1996–2006, the growth rate of Pakistan,
Nepal and Sri Lanka decelerated. India and Maldives
recorded an average growth rate of around 6%. During
the second phase, India maintained high growth rates
of both exports and imports. Higher GDP growth rate
of Bangladesh and Bhutan was not matched by the
growth rate of export and import of goods and services
in the second phase.
In terms of trends in GDP, Maldives, in 1986,
recorded the lowest GDP of US $ 0.14 billion, followed
by Bhutan, while India recorded the highest GDP of
US $246 billion (Table 1.5). The GDP of Pakistan was
much lower vis-à-vis India. However, it was higher as
compared to other South Asian economies. While, the
GDP of all the economies more than doubled over a
20 year period starting from 1986, India still recorded
the highest GDP of US $911 billion in 2006. However,
the per capita income of India still remains low.
Maldives, though being amongst the lowest in terms
of GDP, has shown significant improvement in terms
of per capita GDP which stood at $2,328 in 2005, the
highest in South Asia. Sri Lanka followed the same
trend, with its per capita GDP increasing from US $384
in 1986 to US $1,132 in 2005 which was the second
highest via-à-vis other South Asian economies.
In 1980s, in almost all South Asian economies, the
contribution of agriculture to GDP was higher than
the contribution of the manufacturing sector (Table
1.5). The share of agriculture in GDP was the highest
in Nepal, followed by Bhutan, while the contribution
of the manufacturing sector was the lowest in both the
Table 1.5 GDP Trends during 20-Year Period (1986–2006) in South Asian Economies
1986 1996 2006
GDP as % of GDP GDP as % of GDP GDP as % of GDP
Country (US $ X M Ag Mfg (US $ X M Ag Mfg (US $ X M Ag Mfg
Billion) Billion) Billion)
Bangladesh 21.2 5.4 12.2 31.9 14 40.7 11.1 18.7 25.7 15.4 61.9 19 25.2 19.6 17
Bhutan 0.21 17 50.9 42.7 5 0.31 35.7 45.9 32.8 11.7 0.93 – – – –
India 246 5.3 7.1 30 16.4 388 10.5 11.7 27.4 17.5 911 23 25.8 17.5 16
Nepal 2.9 11.7 20.3 51.5 6.2 4.5 22.3 40.5 9.4 37.2 8.1 18.6 39.5 7.7 39
Sri Lanka 6.4 23.7 35.3 27.1 15.2 13.9 35 43.9 22.4 16.2 27 31.6 43.2 16.5 14
Maldives 0.14 68.1 60.7 – – 0.45 91.7 73.1 – – 0.93 – – – –
Pakistan 38.1 10.3 16.9 27.6 16.3 76.2 14 17.8 24.7 15.2 126 15.3 23.3 19.4 19.5
Note: X: exports; M: imports; Ag: agriculture, Mfg: manufacturing.
Source: World Development Indicators