Comparing Ownership of Appliances and Vehicles in India and Pakistan

[RiazHaq]

Ownership of durables like computers, home appliances and vehicles is often seen as an important indicator of the size and health of the middle classes in emerging economies. Examples of periodic household surveys used by researchers to measure such data include NSS (National Sampling Survey) in India and PSLM (Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement) in Pakistan.

Durables Ownership in India and Pakistan. Source: KSBL

India-Pakistan Comparison:

Dr. Jawaid Abdul Ghani, a professor at Karachi School of Business Leadership, has recently analyzed household surveys in India and Pakistan to discover the following:

1. As of 2015, car ownership in both India and Pakistan is about the same at 6% of households owning a car. However, 41% of Pakistani household own motorcycles, several points higher than India's 32%.

2. 12% of Pakistani households own a computer, slightly higher than 11% in India.

3. Higher percentage of Pakistani households own appliances such as refrigerators (Pakistan 47%, India 33%), washing machines (Pakistan 48%, India 15%) and fans (Pakistan 91%, India 83%).

4. 71% of Indian households own televisions versus 62% in Pakistan.

Durables Ownership Growth in Pakistan. Source: KSBL

Growth over Time:

Dr. Abdul Ghani has also analyzed household data to show that the number of Pakistani households owning washing machines has doubled while car and refrigerator ownership has tripled and motorcycle ownership jumped 6-fold from 2001 to 2014.

Income/Consumption Growth in Pakistan. Source: KSBL

Rapid Income Growth:

Rising ownership of durables in Pakistan has been driven by significant reduction in poverty and growth of household incomes, according to Dr. Abdul Ghani's research. Households with per capita income of under $2 per day per person has plummeted from 57% in 2001 to 7% in 2014. At the same time, households earning $2 to $10 per day per person has soared from 42% of households in 2001 to 87% of households in 2014. Those earning over $10 per day per person has jumped 7-fold from 1% of households in 2001 to 7% of households in 2014.

Pakistani Middle Class:

Only 5% of Pakistanis in $2-$4 per day per person income group have college degrees. But 20% of those in $4-$10 have college degrees, according to the survey results.

Pakistan Middle Class Profile. Source: KSBL

Credit Suisse Income and Wealth Data:

Average Pakistani adult is 20% richer than an average Indian adult and the median wealth of a Pakistani adult is 120% higher than that of his or her Indian counterpart, according to Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. Average household wealth in Pakistan has grown 2.1% while it has declined 0.8% in India since the end of last year.


Median wealth data indicates that 50% of Pakistanis own more than $1,180 per adult which is 120% more than the $608 per adult owned by 50% of Indians.

GDP Estimates Using Household Survey Data:

Pakistan's GDP calculated from consumption data in PSLM is significantly higher than the government estimates based on production data. The reverse is true of Indian GDP.

M. Ali Kemal and Ahmed Waqar Qasim, economists at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), explored several published different approaches for sizing Pakistan's underground economy and settled on a combination of PSLM (Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement) consumption data and mis-invoicing of exports and imports to conclude that the country's "informal economy was 91% of the formal economy in 2007-08".

Prominent Indian economists Abhijit V Banerjee, Pranab Bardhan, Rohini Somanathan and TN Srinivasan teaching at MIT, UC Berkeley, Yale University and Delhi School of Economics believe that India's GDP estimate based on household survey (National Sampling Service or NSS) data is about half of what the Indian government officially reports as India's GDP.

Who is Dr. Jawaid Abdul Ghani?

The PSLM household data cited in this blog post is taken from a recent presentation made by Dr. Jawaid Abdul Ghani at the Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) where he teaches. KSBL has been established in collaboration with Cambridge University's Judge Business School. Prior to his current faculty position, Dr. Abdul Ghani taught at MIT's Sloane School of Management and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). He has a computer science degree from MIT and an MBA from Wharton Business School.

Summary:

Pakistan has managed to significantly reduce poverty and rapidly grow its middle class since 2001 in spite of major political, security and economic challenges. The foundation for the rise of the middle class was laid on President Musharraf's watch by his governments decisions to invest in education and infrastructure projects that led to expansion of both human and financial capital. My hope is that the continued improvement in security and implementation of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) related projects will bring in higher long-term investments and accelerate Pakistan's progress toward a prosperity for all of its citizens.


http://www.riazhaq.com/2017/05/comparing-ownership-of-appliances-and.html

 

[فالتو]

Average Pakistani adult is 20% richer than an average Indian adult and the median wealth of a Pakistani adult is 120% higher than that of his or her Indian counterpart, according to Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. Average household wealth in Pakistan has grown 2.1% while it has declined 0.8% in India since the end of last year.


So much for Shining India.

Yet Pakistanis are always complaining and Indians are proud of their misery. Different attitudes.

 

[Talwar Gujjar]

Vo saray Pteecher jo har waqt hidu k gun gaatay rehtay hein, zra b sharam ha tau doob maro chulloo bhar pani mein.

 

[nepali.nationalist]

keep it up riaz bhai and this also matches with the fact that more Pakistanis refuse to do menial jobs for meagre wages in the middle east compared to their endian and other south asian counterparts.

Thanks again for the great research and please dont mind the ch@ddis who will come and pass their comments in pain after reading this :biggthumpup:

 

[chandbibi]

When you don't know how many pakistanis live in pakistan as on date these figures make no sense. First complete the census and then do research before making comparisons with India.

 

[nepali.nationalist]

ch@ddis whose rear has just caught fire and are asking for census figures should question the makers of the Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. as to how they came up with these figures.

I guess counting the number of household items that have been imported or sold in the country is not as difficult as holding a census. :lol:

 

[miafridi]

These Numbers can change rapidly if the reforms are not consistent and the policy is unclear...

 

[RiazHaq]

The hidden truth behind India’s low refrigerator ownership
http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/et-commentary/the-hidden-truth-behind-indias-low-refrigerator-ownership/

Nearly 90% families in China today have a refrigerator. What about India?
The 2016 ICE 360 survey showed that a little less than 30% of Indian families have a refrigerator. At first glance, we may conclude that a fridge is still an aspirational product that doesn’t fit into the majority of Indian families’ budgets. That reasoning however, does not hold up.
The same survey showed that even in the top 20% of the richest Indian families, only six out of 10 families have a fridge. This suggests that constraints other than affordability are at work here that influence households’ decision to buy a refrigerator.
While a threshold level of income is a necessary condition for the purchase of a refrigerator, it is not the sufficient condition.
The 2011 census shows that nearly twice the number of households in rural India own a two-wheeler, which costs much more than a fridge.
This kind of hierarchical pattern in the ownership of a two-wheeler and a fridge in India is unlike in any other major economy.
So Women can Chill
In a March 2017 paper in the Journal of Quantitative Economics (From Income to Household Welfare: Lessons from Refrigerator Ownership in India, by Sowmya Dhanaraj, Vidya Mahambare and Poonam Munjal), this apparent puzzle is explored.
Following a robust statistical methodology and controlling for the impact of a number of other determinants such as regional influences, two factors stood out. One, a refrigerator is unique among all energy-using consumer durables.
Unlike the television or air-conditioner, the decision to purchase a fridge depends not only on the access but also reliability and duration of residential power.
Unlike a TV, a fridge is of little use unless uninterrupted power supply is guaranteed. Nearly 43% of rural households and 13% of urban households in India either do not have access to electricity, or receive electricity for less than eight hours. This makes it a major constraint to buy a durable such as a refrigerator. In fact, only around half of India’s population receives residential power for more than 16 hours a day.
Two, unlike a TV, which is a leisure good, a refrigerator disproportionately benefits women in the family.
As a result, a decision to purchase a consumer durable is also driven by their bargaining and decision-making power within a family. And what would tilt the intra-household bargaining power in favour of women? It is largely the function of the education level of women.

 

[RiazHaq]

In India, washing machines top computers in popularity
A majority of Indian households own a TV while 29% own a refrigerator, according to the ICE 360 survey

http://www.livemint.com/Specials/bh...ing-machines-top-computers-in-popularity.html

Fresh data from a large-scale nationally representative survey conducted this year (2016) shows that the washing machine has become a more popular household asset than the computer in India. The ‘Household Survey on India’s Citizen Environment & Consumer Economy’ (ICE 360 survey) shows that 11% households own a washing machine while only 6% own a computer or a laptop. The survey covering 61,000 households is among the largest consumer economy surveys in the country.

The survey shows a drop in the proportion of computer-owning households compared to the 2011 census, when nearly 10% households reported having either a computer or a laptop (the census did not report data on washing machines). The ICE 360 survey also shows that 10% households reported having an Internet connection, 1% lower than the proportion of households with a washing machine. But the proportion of households where at least one household member reported accessing the Internet (including those who accessed the Internet at work) is significantly higher at 22%.


The survey also shows that a large majority of Indian households owns a TV today. The 2011 census had showed that 47% households have a TV set. That proportion has increased to 65%, according to the ICE 360 survey. As TV becomes a mass market product, the refrigerator may be turning into the kind of aspirational product that the TV once used to be. A majority of the top quintile owns a refrigerator. A majority of the salaried class also owns a refrigerator. Nationally, 29% households own a refrigerator.

 

[miradal]

Average Pakistani adult is 20% richer than an average Indian adult and the median wealth of a Pakistani adult is 120% higher than that of his or her Indian counterpart, according to Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. Average household wealth in Pakistan has grown 2.1% while it has declined 0.8% in India since the end of last year.


So much for Shining India.

Yet Pakistanis are always complaining and Indians are proud of their misery. Different attitudes.

even then indians are bringing laurels in field of science and technology . unlike us who are busy in panama leaks and devising methods to help taliban and strategic depth..

 

[nazrulislam]

keep it up riaz bhai and this also matches with the fact that more Pakistanis refuse to do menial jobs for meagre wages in the middle east compared to their endian and other south asian counterparts.

Thanks again for the great research and please dont mind the ch@ddis who will come and pass their comments in pain after reading this :biggthumpup:

ch@ddis whose rear has just caught fire and are asking for census figures should question the makers of the Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. as to how they came up with these figures.

I guess counting the number of household items that have been imported or sold in the country is not as difficult as holding a census. :lol:

qarz lene aur ada na karne me kha jane me pakistanio ka jawab nahi .

 

[fannekhan]

keep it up riaz bhai and this also matches with the fact that more Pakistanis refuse to do menial jobs for meagre wages in the middle east compared to their endian and other south asian counterparts.

Thanks again for the great research and please dont mind the ch@ddis who will come and pass their comments in pain after reading this :biggthumpup:

dil jalane se kya fayada ?


abe hazzam yeh sab kharid kar kya karega ?
pakistan me bijali to 3 ghante hi aati hai ?

 

[fannekhan]

When you don't know how many pakistanis live in pakistan as on date these figures make no sense. First complete the census and then do research before making comparisons with India.

ch@ddis whose rear has just caught fire and are asking for census figures should question the makers of the Credit Suisse Wealth Report 2016. as to how they came up with these figures.

I guess counting the number of household items that have been imported or sold in the country is not as difficult as holding a census. :lol:

bechare hazzam

bheekh mangne me busy hai census kab karenge

 

[fannekhan]

keep it up riaz bhai and this also matches with the fact that more Pakistanis refuse to do menial jobs for meagre wages in the middle east compared to their endian and other south asian counterparts.

Thanks again for the great research and please dont mind the ch@ddis who will come and pass their comments in pain after reading this :biggthumpup:

abe riaz bhai ko to chhoro ,woh to jealousy me andhe ho rahe hai ,
niche parh hazzamo ne khud kya likha hai?


[h=2]This is how Patwari articles are published in Wall Street Journal and other International media[/h]

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While on my prowl to hunt for something hilarious on the internet, I stumbled upon a tweet from Maryam Nawaz Sharif, which stunned me at the first glance and after reading the referenced article, I gave her full points to cheer me up.... now lets see the tweet here

Follow
Maryam Nawaz Sharif
✔@MaryamNSharif

For the first time ever, Pakistan is in the news for all the right reasons

Allah's blessings... #BrandNawazSharifhttps://www.wsj.com/articles/pakistans-middle-class-soars-as-stability-returns-1485945001 …
9:08 PM - 1 Feb 2017



[h=2]Pakistan’s Middle Class Soars as Stability Returns[/h]Pakistan, often in the headlines for terrorism, coups and poverty, has developed something else in recent years: a burgeoning middle class that is fueling economic growth and bolstering a fragile...
wsj.com

• 
  
• 
  468468 Retweets
• 
  1,0461,046 likes

​

Now look at the statistics which are being given in the WSJ article, twisting the facts to their bones.

Source: Wall Street Journal (can be accessed @: https://www.wsj.com/articles/pakista...rns-1485945001)


Now every person with functioning eyes and an average IQ can understand that the poverty decline started from 2002 onwards, where it was skyrocketing at above 60% and by 2008 it was brought down to a little above than 40%. So that makes up for a 20% decline in 6 years.

However, by looking at what Maryam Nawaz is tweeting about, in 2017 are the statistics updated until 2014 (3 years old), which mentions that the poverty line was brought down to 29% in 2014. Which is not true, but still, for a rough comparison with Musharraf's era, the progress here is only 11% decline in poverty, spanning over 8 years.

Now here lies the real point.....

For some reasons, I was looking for the latest poverty statistics of Pakistan some days back, therefore, the figures suddenly flashed back in my mind while reading this article and I couldn't help my laugh....

In 2016, it was widely published in Pakistani press and media that the poverty percentage of population living under poverty line is 39% as reported by UNDP (now how credible is that???)

Source: UNDP MPI Brief 2016 (can be accessed @ http://www.pk.undp.org/content/pakistan/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2016/06/20/pakistan-s-new-poverty-index-reveals-that-4-out-of-10-pakistanis-live-in-multidimensional-poverty.html)

Now comparing the statistics given by UNDP and the article of WSJ, written by Mr.Saeed Shah, it is interesting to note the disparities and how these statistics are used to create a mirage of development under poorly performing governments of Pakistan. The real notion here indicates only a single figure decline in the past eight years of democracy.

Poverty is not only considered in a single dimension of wealth alone, as it creates a blind spot in analysis. Consider a population of 10 people, where one has Rs 100 with him and the rest 9 have only Rs 1 each. Now if we take a straitjacket approach to average out the wealth of each person, it will come at about Rs 11/person, which is not true. Only one person is keeping more than 90% of the wealth here.

Keeping this in view, the modern statisticians allowed other dimensions to be included for consideration in order to get the clearer picture of the situation. This included things like access to health facilities, education and shelter etc. The significance of these parameters describe the pattern of wealth distribution in a population. Now if we consider the given case above in this scenario, it will definitely show that only 1 out of 9 people has adequate access to health, shelter, education and clean drinking water etc. The real image is thus revealed, much clearly. This approach is known as Multi-dimensional Poverty Index or MPI ( I wonder if WSJ even know an iota of it)

I wonder why a credible source like Wall Street Journal is projecting misleading statistics here? even if we dig up to the statistics shown by them in their article, it appears that the rate of decline of poverty was speedier during the 2002-2008 era. I wonder how the analyst has concluded that the decline in poverty is associated with the policies of the governments succeeding 2008? On the other hand, how does the sale of luxury consumer items like refrigerators and washing machines etc are even remotely connected with the human development index? if the wealthy is getting wealthier, then he will buy two refrigerators instead of one. So that describes the increase in the sale of these items. However, the real development is projected in the facts that how many people have got access to proper healthcare? how many are living under proper shelter and have access to clean drinking water and appropriate food? how many children are going to school and have access to quality education?

In purview of the recent developments. it appears that the Government is trying hard to extract something out of thin air to project as their development, in disguise. Whereby, even the credible sources like Wall Street Journal also appear to be lowering their credibility, though they already raised many brows worldwide during the 2008-10 global economic crisis, where their analysts were projecting figures that were unlikely to prevail and were grossly misleading for the investors.

Perhaps, it is one of the classic example where we can safely say that "This is how these Patwari Articles Get published" in magazines like WSJ because no one other than Patwaris are paying them these days to publish articles like these. It is understandable that after WSJ lost its credibility for the real investors back in 2008-10, they are now dependent on these Patwaris to make up articles like that.

Although, I am open for any ideas and/or comments which can correct me in this respect if I am perceiving anything in an improbable perspective.


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Last edited by Sohail Shuja; 09-Feb-2017 at 11:15 PM.​

Reply ​

 

[Wake Up Pakistan]

dil jalane se kya fayada ?


abe hazzam yeh sab kharid kar kya karega ?
Pakistan me bijali to 3 ghante hi aati hai ?

acha beta

india mai tou itni be nahe atee

kafee ilaqoo mai tou bijli hai be nahee

 

[fannekhan]

acha beta

india mai tou itni be nahe atee

kafee ilaqoo mai tou bijli hai be nahee

jelousy thy name is pakistan (bigsmile)

kyon jhooth bolte ho ?

india me villages me kum se kum 12 ghante aur bare shahro me kum se kum 22 ghante power supply ensure ki jati hai .

 

[GAYUR]

jelousy thy name is pakistan (bigsmile)

kyon jhooth bolte ho ?

india me villages me kum se kum 12 ghante aur bare shahro me kum se kum 22 ghante power supply ensure ki jati hai .

kashmir ke chakkar me barbad ho rahe hai,

pahle international dahashatgard ban gaye , adha mulk gavanya , charo taraf se maar par rahi hai ,

besharmi isi ko kahte hai. na jane hamare mulk ka kya hoga .

 

[chandbibi]

@fannekhan
Jane do bhai, ye us nahaj pe khade hai jahan se aage sirf barbadi hai, inhe samjhane ki koshish karo to inke palle kuch nahi padta. Vehicles ko bech ke loan chukayenge ye log aur bijlee ka project jo chalu hee nahi hua uske liye 80 billion tax de chuke hai already. Bas ab wohe baat kaam aayegi jakon rakhe saiyan maar sake na koie.

 

[Wake Up Pakistan]

jelousy thy name is pakistan (bigsmile)

kyon jhooth bolte ho ?

india me villages me kum se kum 12 ghante aur bare shahro me kum se kum 22 ghante power supply ensure ki jati hai .

kikikikikiki what a joke lots of indians tell me about situation there

sanu foodu na bana

 

[chandbibi]

ham taras hee kha sakte hai ab, their hatred is more powerful than their sense of self-preservation, which is why i feel sorry for them. Irrational hatred led them to believe borrowing money will make pakistan a superpower. There is never any free lunch in this world, but nobody cares in pakistan it seems. Ab ye article hee dekh lo, India ke bare me kuch pata bhi hai inhe jo comparison karne lagte hai. Majak bana liya hai inhone khud ka. Do they even realize how everybody laughs at them. Chinese hanste honge inpar....

inka load shedding ka masla bigar chuka hai , circular debt ki qisht chuka nahi pate jiski wajah se inke power house band ho jate hai .
upar se inke yaha population ka pata hi nahi .
80 billion dollar ka loan alag se hai ,defaulter log hai loan le kar wapas hi nahi karte ,
ab china inko ghulam bana chuka hai .

mujhe in becharo ko dekh kar taras aata hai.:(