COMPARATIVE STUDY: INDIA, CHINA AND PAKISTAN  

Demographic Indicators

  • Population: China is the most populous country in the world with 1,371 million people and India is the second most populated country with 1,311 million people. As compared to China or India, the population of Pakistan is very less (188 million people). If we look at the global population, out of every six persons living in this world, one is an Indian and another Chinese. The population of Pakistan is very small and accounts for roughly one-tenth of China or India.
  • Growth Rate of Population: Though China is the most populated country, its annual growth rate population is the lowest (0.5%) as compared to India (1.2%) and Pakistan (2.1%). The reason for the low growth of population is the 'One-Child policy' introduced in China in the late 1970s. 'One-Child Policy" of China has successfully reduced the growth rate of population and provides a better health service for women and has reduced the risk of death and injury associated with Pregnancy. However, this policy has some other implications also. For instance, after a few decades, there will be more elderly people in proportion to young people in China. This will force China to take steps to provide social security measures with fewer workers.
  • Density of Population: China is the third-largest country in the world and growth rate of Population is lowest in China as compared to India and Pakistan. As a result, density of population of China is the lowest (146 persons per sq. km) as compared to India (441 Persons per sq. km) and Pakistan (245 persons per sq. km).
  • Sex Ratio: Due to the preference for sons, the sex ratio is low and biased against females in all the three countries. Sex ratio is the lowest in India with 929 females per 1,000 males. In China and Pakistan, the corresponding figures are 941 and 947. In recent times, all three countries are adopting various measures to improve the situation.
  • Fertility Rate: Fertility Rate is calculated as the number of children borne by a woman of the reproductive age (15-45 years), on average. Since the introduction of the one-child policy, the fertility rate in China has fallen from over 3 births per woman in 1980 to approximately 1.6 births. Fertility rate is the highest in Pakistan at 3.7 births per woman and India comes second with 2.3 births per woman
  • Urbanization: Urbanisation is the highest in China (56%, In India and Pakistan, the corresponding figures are 3,3% and 39%.

Growth Indicators

Growth Rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP growth rate is considered the single most important indicator of an economy during the period. China with the second-largest GDP, as measured by purchasing power parity (PPP), is estimated to be $ 19.8 trillion. India, GDP (PPP) is 8.07 trillion and Pakistan, GDP is roughly about 12% of India’s GDP.

During 1980-90:

  • China was having double-digit growth of 10.3%;
  • Pakistan’s growth rate was 6.3%;
  • India was at the bottom with just a 5.7% growth rate.

During 2011-15:

  • There was a drastic fall in China's growth rate from 10.3% to 7.9%.
  • Pakistan also met with a drastic decline in growth rate from 6.3% to 4%. As per some scholars, reform processes introduced in 1988 and political instability were the main reasons behind this decline.
  • India recorded an increase from 5.7% to 6.7%

Sectoral Contribution

Agriculture (Primary Sector)

In China

  • Due to topographic and climatic conditions, the area suitable for cultivation is just 10% of its total land area.
  • The total cultivable area in China accounts for 40% of the cultivable area in India.
  • Till 1980, more than 80% of its population was dependent on farming as their sole source of livelihood.
  • Since then, the government encouraged people to leave their fields and pursue other &lefties, such as handicrafts, commerce and transport.
  • As a result, proportion of workforce engaged in agriculture reduced to 28% in 2014-15, with a contribution to GDP of 9%.

In India

  • The contribution of agriculture to GDP was 17%. The proportion of workforce engaged in agriculture was 50%.

In Pakistan

The contribution of agriculture to GDP was the same at 25%, but the proportion of workforce engaged in agriculture was 43% as compared to 50% of India.

Industry (Secondary Sector)

  • Contribution to GDP: In China, manufacturing and service sectors contribute the highest to GDP at 43 and 48 per cent, respectively whereas in India and Pakistan, it is the service sector that contributes the highest by more than 50 percent of GDP.
  • In China, secondary sector contributed 43% to China's GDP, whereas in India and Pakistan, the share of secondary sector was 30% and 21% respectively.
  • Proportion of Workforce: In the normal course of development, China has been shifting employment and output from agriculture to manufacturing and then to services. In India and Pakistan, the shift is taking place directly in the service sector.
  • The proportion of workforce engaged in manufacturing sector, in India and Pakistan in 21101715, was low at 21% and 23% respectively, whereas 29% of population was engaged in China.

Service (Tertiary Sector)

  • Contribution to GDP: In both India and Pakistan, the service sector is emerging as a major player in development. Service sector contributes the highest to their GDP, with contribution of 53% in case of India and 54% for Pakistan.
  • The contribution of service sector to the GDP in China was 32%.
  • Proportion of workforce: In the 1980s, Pakistan was faster in shifting its workforce to service sector than India and China.
  • The proportion of workforce engaged in service sector in 1980 for India, China and Pakistan were 17%, 12% and 27%. It reached the level of 29%, 43% and 34% respectively in 2014.

Conclusion

  • In the last two decades, the contribution of agriculture sector to GDP, which employs the largest proportion of workforce in all the three countries, has declined.
  • In the industrial sector, China has maintained a double-digit growth rate, whereas, for India and Pakistan, growth rate has declined.
  • In case of service sector, China was able to raise its rate of growth during 1980-2015, while growth. India and Pakistan stagnated with their service sector growth.
  • So, China's growth is mainly contributed by the manufacturing sector and India's growth by the service sector. During this period, Pakistan has shown deceleration in all three sectors.

Human Development Indicators

  • Human Development Index (HD1):
  • HDI is an important indicator to study the human development. Higher value of HDI shows the higher level of growth and development of a country.
  • In 2016, HDI for India, China and Pakistan was estimated to be 0.624, 0.738 and 0.550 respectively.
  • According to their HDI, Global ranks accorded were found to be 131, 91 and 148 respectively.
  • Life Expectancy at Birth:
  • Life expectancy refers to the average number of years for which people are expected to live. A higher life expectancy indicates longer and a more active average life span. China has the highest life expectancy of 76 years. India and Pakistan have the life expectancy of 68.3 and 66.4 years respectively.
  • Mean years of Schooling:
  • It is highest in case of China with 7.6%, while the corresponding figures for India and Pakistan are 6.3% and 5.1% respectively.
  • Infant Mortalitv Rate (IMR):
  • Infant mortality rate refers to number of infants dying before reaching one year of age per 1,000 live births in a year. Low IMR shows better health and sanitation facilities as most of the infants die due to unhygienic and insanitary environments. It is lowest in China with 9 infants and highest in Pakistan with 66 infants. IMR in India is 38.
  • People below Poverty Line:
  • People below the poverty line are the people who do not even have that level of income and expenditure, which is necessary to meet specified minimum levels of calorie intake. For the proportion of people below the international poverty rate of $ 3.10 a day, people below poverty line are 37%, 32% and 44% for India, China and Pakistan respectively.
  • Maternal Mortality Rate:
  • Both India and Pakistan have not been able to save women from maternal mortality. In China, for one lakh births, only 27 women die, whereas in India and Pakistan, maternal mortality rate is 174 and 178 respectively.
  • GDP per capita (PPP US $):
  • Higher ranking of China in HDI is mainly due to higher GDP per capita. In 2016, China's GDP per capita was estimated to be US $ 14,400, while it was just US $ 6,092 for India and US $ 4,866 for Pakistan.
  • Access to improved Wafer Sources:
  • It refers to the percentage of population which has a reasonable access to water (from tap, hand pump or protected well) and is able to obtain at least 20 liters per person per day. China (96%) is ahead of India (94%) and Pakistan (91%), in providing improved water sources.
  • Access to improved Sanitation:
  • Pakistan's performance in providing sanitation is better than India and China. China has provided improved sanitation to 77% of population, whereas corresponding figures for Pakistan and India are 64% and 40% respectively.
  • Population undernourished:
  • The percentage of population, which is not able to obtain adequante diet, is termed an undernourished population. China has the lowest percentage of population (9%), which is being undernourished. In India, 39% and in Pakistan, 45% of the population was undernourished.

Liberty Indicators:

  • Human development indicators are all extremely important, but not sufficient. Along with these, we also need liberty indicators.
  • Liberty Indicator may be defined as the measure of the extent of demographic participation in social and political decision making.
  • Examples of liberty indicators: (i) Measures of the extent of the Constitutional Protection Rights given to the citizens; (ii) Extent of the Constitutional Protection of the independence of the Judiciary and Rule of Law. Human development index may be said to be incomplete unless such indicators are included.