Islamabad: Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments have collectively allocated around Rs3.52 trillion for health and education in their budgets for 2026-27, surpassing the federal government’s Rs3 trillion defence allocation by more than Rs520 billion, official budget figures reveal.
The combined allocations indicate that federal and provincial governments have earmarked approximately Rs1.37 trillion for health and Rs2.16 trillion for education, reflecting the dominant share of social-sector spending in the country’s public finances. While defence remains the largest single item in the federal budget, aggregate spending on health and education across all tiers of government is higher.
Punjab, the country’s most populous province, has allocated Rs500 billion for health and Rs750 billion for education in 2026-27, taking its total spending on the two sectors to Rs1.25 trillion. Punjab alone accounts for more than one-third of Pakistan’s combined health and education allocations.
Sindh has earmarked Rs381.834 billion for health and Rs635.085 billion for education, resulting in a combined allocation of about Rs1.017 trillion. The province’s health budget includes allocations for tertiary-care hospitals, district health services, preventive programmes and vertical disease control initiatives, while the education budget covers school education, colleges, universities and development schemes.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has allocated Rs334 billion for health, including Rs50 billion for the Sehat Card Plus programme, and over Rs468 billion for education. The province’s combined social-sector spending stands at approximately Rs802 billion, making it the third-largest contributor after Punjab and Sindh. Health and education together account for a substantial portion of the provincial budget.
Balochistan, despite having a relatively smaller fiscal envelope, has allocated Rs96.56 billion for health and Rs186.33 billion for education, bringing its combined spending on the two sectors to Rs282.89 billion. Education receives nearly twice as much funding as health in the province.
At the federal level, the government has allocated Rs53.3 billion for health and Rs117.75 billion for education in the 2026-27 budget, taking total federal allocations for the two sectors to Rs171.05 billion. These allocations mainly support national institutions, regulatory functions, higher education, special programmes and federally administered areas.
Overall, total health allocations across the federation amount to approximately Rs1.366 trillion, while education spending stands at around Rs2.157 trillion. Education receives nearly 61 percent of combined social-sector spending, compared with about 39 percent for health.
A provincial breakdown shows that Punjab accounts for around 36.6 percent of total health allocations and nearly 34.8 percent of education spending nationwide. Sindh contributes roughly 28 percent of health allocations and 29.4 percent of education spending, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s share stands at around 24 percent of health expenditure and 21.7 percent of education allocations.
Balochistan accounts for approximately 7 percent of health spending and nearly 9 percent of education allocations. The federal government’s share remains comparatively modest at around 4 percent of health spending and 5 percent of education expenditure.
The figures underscore the impact of the 18th Constitutional Amendment, under which health and education became largely provincial subjects. As a result, provinces now account for more than 95 percent of total spending on the two sectors, with the federal government playing a relatively limited role focused on policy, regulation and specialized institutions.
By comparison, the federal government allocated Rs3 trillion for defence in the 2026-27 budget, an increase of around 18 percent over the previous fiscal year. Although defence continues to represent the single largest expenditure head in the federal budget after debt servicing, aggregate allocations for health and education exceed defence spending by about Rs523 billion.
The allocations suggest that Pakistan’s public spending priorities, when viewed collectively across all governments, place greater financial resources in health and education than in defence.
Analysts, however, note that actual outcomes will depend not only on budgetary allocations but also on the timely release, utilization and efficiency of spending, as development and recurrent budgets often face implementation challenges and underutilization.
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