Karachi (Asia & the Pacific)
Population: 21,241,410
GDP: 1,624 USD
Functional Urban Area: 1,348 km2
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Context

Karachi is Pakistan’s largest city and one of the largest megacities in South Asia. The city has undergone multiple administrative changes over the years. It became a metropolitan corporation in 1976, with zonal municipal committees, but was replaced in 2000 with the unified City District Government of Karachi. Karachi Metropolitan Corporation was then reinstated in 2011 along with the five original sub-districts, later expanded to seven. The recent 2021 amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act, while maintaining the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, abolished these districts—reintroducing 25 town municipal corporations, each with its own local council and union committees.

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Key findings

Although steadily increasing in recent years, Karachi’s CO₂ emissions per capita outperforms global and regional averages. Karachi has also achieved notable progress in improving sanitation facilities. The proportion of the population with access to improved, non-shared sanitation facilities increased from 64% in 2000 to 84% in 2022, reflecting significant strides in public health infrastructure for this megacity.

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Indicators at a glance

Explore Karachi’s strengths in:

  • Resilience,
  • Inclusion,
  • Governance and
  • Innovation.

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