More than half a million Pakistanis graduate every year with at least a two-year college degree. A little more than 11% of 30-year-olds in Pakistan have at least a two-year college degree and, judging by the fact that the number of graduates is growing at three times the population growth rate, that number will likely keep on rising for every subsequent generation of 30-year-olds in the country. However, our education system has failed to keep pace with emerging market trends. It means that although Pakistan has a lot of raw talent, it is not prepared for the rapid advancement of technology that will necessitate a much better trained workforce than the one we have now.
About 8.6% of Pakistanis over the age of 25 have at least a bachelor's or higher degree, according to data from the World Bank for the year 2021, the latest year for which comparable data was available. But as we stated at the outset, that number hides the fact that younger Pakistanis are going to college at higher rates than their parents and grandparents, and that this increase in rate is itself increasing.
The number of people in Pakistan who successfully finished a college degree in the academic year ending in 2022 was about 502,000 students, according to data from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. That number represents an average annual growth rate of 7.3% per year over the five years between 2017 and 2022. To put that growth in context, it is more than three times higher than the 2.1% per year population growth rate during that same period.
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