: 37.8 million (1998)
note: extensive export of labor, mostly to the Middle East, and use
of child labor

Labor force--by occupation: agriculture 47%, mining and
manufacturing 17%, services 17%, other 19%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $10.8 billion
expenditures: $12 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(FY96/97)

Industries: textiles, food processing, beverages, construction
materials, clothing, paper products, shrimp

Industrial production growth rate: 2% (FY97/98)

Electricity--production: 59.336 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 57.3%
hydro: 42.13%
nuclear: 0.57%
other: 0% (1997)

Electricity--consumption: 59.336 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits,
vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs

Exports: $8.5 billion (FY97/98)

Exports--commodities: cotton, textiles, clothing, rice, leather,
carpets

Exports--partners: EU, US, Hong Kong, Japan

Imports: $10.1 billion (FY97/98)

Imports--commodities: petroleum, petroleum products, machinery,
transportation equipment, vegetable oils, animal fats, chemicals

Imports--partners: EU, Japan, US, China

Debt--external: $34 billion (1998 est.)

Economic aid--recipient: $2 billion (FY97/98)

Currency: 1 Pakistani rupee (PRe) = 100 paisa

Exchange rates: Pakistani rupees (PRs) per US$1--46.000 (January
1999), 45.033 (1998), 41.086 (1997), 36.056 (1996), 31.623 (1995),
30.548 (1994); note--annual average of official rate; parallel market
rate is higher

Fiscal year: 1 July--30 June

Communications

Telephones: 2.828 million (1998)

Telephone system: the domestic system is mediocre, but improving;
service is adequate for government and business use, in part because
major businesses have established their own private systems; since
1988, the government has promoted investment in the national
telecommunications system on a priority basis, significantly
increasing network capacity; despite major improvements in trunk and
urban systems, telecommunication services are still not readily
available to the majority of the rural population
domestic: microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable,
cellular, and satellite
international: satellite earth stations--3 Intelsat (1 Atlantic Ocean
and 2 Indian Ocean); 3 ope