country profile

Pakistan

South AsiaLower middle income255.22M population

Last updated July 15, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Pakistan shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (23rd percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

31.34Composite score
Global percentile
23rd
Global rank
#138
Regional rank
#7
Viewing data for
Emerging readiness
Infrastructure
48.71
29th percentileGlobal avg. 55.13
Critically unprepared
Human Capital
23.38
6th percentileGlobal avg. 47.36
Severely underprepared
Innovation
44.62
50th percentileGlobal avg. 46.19
Critically unprepared
Governance
29.98
20th percentileGlobal avg. 47.46
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
10.00
33rd percentileGlobal avg. 48.49

Country profile

Pakistan faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in GEFRI Composite (31, 23rd percentile), Governance (30, 20th percentile) and Human Capital (23, 6th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Low internet adoption slows digital participation and constrains system-wide modernization. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Gender parity leans toward boys in secondary pathways, signalling persistent barriers for girls.

Infrastructure and Innovation present a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, School Access and Gender Parity lags peers the most, signalling where investment could have the highest impact.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 23rd percentile.

Places 138th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 7th within South Asia.

Scores range from Infrastructure (48.7) to Access & Parity (10.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: South Asia

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
851Nepal51.91
882India51.37
983Sri Lanka48.87
1104MaldivesFCS43.04
1175Bangladesh38.17
1186Bhutan38.12
1387Pakistan31.34
1748AfghanistanFCS16.98