ISLAMABAD, July 31: Pakistan ranks 14th among 23 economies of Asia and the Pacific in terms of economic wellbeing and living standards of people, despite an impressive growth in the last few years.

According to the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) ‘International Programme (ICP) in Asia and the Pacific: Purchasing Power Parity Preliminary Report’, Pakistan at 14th place was ahead of China and India which were at 15th and 17th positions respectively when economies were compared based on per capita ‘actual final consumption of households (AFCH)’, a measure of economic wellbeing of the population.

The AFCH measures what households actually consume, what they purchase and what they are supplied for individual use by the government (principally education and health). The economic well-being of the population is obtained by comparing household consumption expenditure per capita.

The five economies that top the list are Hong Kong (Hong Kong $125,303 per capita), Taipei (HK$109,108), Singapore (HK$99,706), Brunei Darussalam (HK$81,744), and Macao (HK$67,639). Pakistan’s per capita is HK$13,230 per year. In comparison, China and India stand at HK$11,502 and HK$9,346 respectively.

The five economies that are at the bottom of the survey are Nepal, Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam. From another perspective, Pakistan occupies the 15th position among 22 countries when the size of economies is adjusted by population. China and India stand at 10th and 18th place respectively when the full gross domestic product (GDP) is compared, although these two economic powerhouses account for 64 per cent of the total real GDP.

Based on the Price Level Index (PLI), a ratio of the Purchasing Power Parities to the exchange rate, Pakistan figures again at 14th position. The cheapest places in these 23 countries are Lao PDR, Vietnam, Iran, Cambodia and Nepal. Fiji Islands and Hong Kong are the two costliest places to live in. They are followed by Macao, China, Singapore, and Taipei. China ranked eighth, and India ranked 16th in terms of PLIs. Price levels in the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia are very similar and are close to the Asian average.