India, Bangladesh Overtake Pakistan in Per Capita Income After 26 Years

Pakistan has lost the per capita income advantage it held over India and Bangladesh at the turn of the millennium, with both neighbouring countries now ahead of Pakistan, according to purchasing-power-parity (PPP) figures cited in a widely circulated analysis.

In 2000, Pakistan’s GDP per capita on a PPP basis was estimated at around $2,880, compared with approximately $2,010 for India and $1,620 for Bangladesh. Pakistan was therefore about 43 per cent ahead of India and 77 per cent ahead of Bangladesh.

The picture has changed dramatically by 2026. India’s PPP GDP per capita is projected at around $12,560, compared with approximately $9,180 for Bangladesh and $6,480 for Pakistan.

On these estimates, the average Indian’s income measured by PPP is now about 94 per cent higher than Pakistan’s, while Bangladesh is around 42 per cent ahead of Pakistan.

The comparison, based on figures cited by former Pakistani finance minister Miftah Ismail and presented in an animated visual, highlights a major shift in the relative economic position of the three South Asian countries over the past quarter century.

India’s stronger and more sustained economic growth, alongside Bangladesh’s expansion of exports and manufacturing, has helped both countries increase income levels significantly. Pakistan, meanwhile, has faced repeated balance-of-payments crises, political uncertainty, high inflation, weak investment and slower progress on structural reforms.

The reversal is particularly striking because Pakistan entered the 21st century with a clear per capita income advantage over both neighbours. Over the following 26 years, however, differences in economic growth rates have compounded, producing a substantially different regional economic ranking.

Nominal GDP per capita figures for 2026 also place India and Bangladesh ahead of Pakistan, reinforcing the broader trend that the economic gap has shifted considerably in favour of the two neighbouring economies.

The figures underline how sustained growth, investment, export performance, economic stability and structural reforms can reshape relative living standards over a single generation.

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