According to the latest Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) Survey 2008‐09, the overall literacy rate (age 10 years and above) is 57% (69% for male and 45% for female) compared to 56% (69% for male and 44% for female) for 2007‐08. The data shows that literacy remains higher in urban areas (74%) than in rural areas (48%), and is more prevalent for men (69%) compared to women (45%). However, it is evident from the data that overall female literacy is rising over time, but progress is uneven across the provinces.Read the full story

Economic Census is the major source of statistics on economic activities in the country. It covered 3.249 million Establishments / Households of which, 64% were in Punjab, 18% in Sindh, 15% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2% in Balochistan and 1% in Islamabad. 44% of the total Establishments were in rural areas and 56% were in urban areas. 53% of the total establishments were in Wholesale and Retail Trade, Restaurants and Hotels Sector, 20% Manufacturing Sector, 22% in Community, Social and Persona[i]l Services Sector.Read the full story

Two days training was held at International Field & Tab office in Lahore for recruiters, enumerators, and field supervisors. Training is a regular feature of International Field & Tab.

Training was given to interviewers on point as follows:

* Selection of Area
* Selection of Household
* Selection of Respondent
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According to the latest figures released by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Mobile tele-density reached to 59.8percent in May, 2010. Trends in tele-density are depicting a slower pace due to ‘maturity of market’ where operators have now adopted a retention policy instead of making efforts for expansion of subscribers. A total of 98 million cellular subscribers have been recorded in May, 2010.Read the full story

The Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has recently released the Quantum Index Number (QIM)* which shows the performance trends of output in the Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) recorded a growth of 4.52% during July-April fiscal year 2010 (overall index 203.98) over the corresponding months of the last fiscal year (overall index 195.16 ). LSM in April 2010 was 5.59% (overall index 207.92) over the corresponding month last year (overall index 196.91). Read the full story

Good news is that ESOMAR has launched its Global Price Study 2010. The Global Index is a net that allows an approximate ranking of countries. This time 67 countries’ data was published in ESOMAR report with an average indices from lowest cost methodology of a U&A project. It shows that Global prices are stable with Pakistan as a country maintaining its position on the bottom of Index with 29 points as compare with USA on the top with 256 points.