LAHORE: The agriculture sector grew 2.89 per cent in 2025-26 despite the devastating floods of 2025, with strong livestock performance and improved production of key crops helping the sector recover from last year’s slowdown, reveals the Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 released on Thursday.

The survey showed that agriculture, which contributes 23.4pc to the national GDP – slightly down from 23.62pc last year – employs over 33pc of workforce. The sector grew from 1.53pc in the previous year. The crop sector returned to positive territory with 1.44pc growth, while livestock, the largest component of agriculture, expanded by 3.75pc.

Among major crops, sugarcane registered the highest growth of 6.2pc, with production rising to 89.45 million tonnes. Wheat output increased by 4.3pc to 29.61mt, while rice production rose 2.8pc to nearly 10mt. However, maize and cotton production declined by 2.7pc and 0.5pc, respectively.

The survey highlighted a significant increase in the production of pulses, vegetables and fruits, which grew by31.4pc, 12.6pc and 2.8pc, respectively. Gram production surged by more than 50pc, while potato output increased by 27.6pc.

Livestock, key crops help sector recover from last year’s slowdown

Livestock continued to underpin agricultural growth, accounting for 62.4pc of agriculture’s value addition and 14.6pc of GDP. The sector’s gross value addition rose to Rs6.23 trillion, while milk production reached 74.7mt and meat production climbed to 6.31mt.

The government claims it has launched a major transformation plan for the meat sector, aiming to increase exports from around $500m to nearly $700m by 2028 through improved disease control, livestock genetics, processing facilities and export-oriented value chains.

Poultry industry also maintained strong growth, producing 2.83mt of meat and over 28 billion eggs during the year. The sector now contributes more than 43pc of the country’s total meat production and provides employment to over 1.5 million people.

The fisheries sector produced 642,180 tonnes of fish during the first nine months of FY2026 and earned $405 million through exports, while forestry recorded 2.02pc growth. Under the Green Pakistan Programme, nearly 2.26bn plants have been planted, regenerated or distributed across the country.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2026