May 17: The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the provinces are likely to contract sharply in the current fiscal year (FY 2022/23).

According to the estimates released by the National Statistics Office on Tuesday, the economic growth rate of all seven provinces will be much lower than the previous year.

In the Fiscal Year 2022/23, the national GDP in terms of consumer prices is estimated to be equal to Rs 5381 billion.

Bagmati Province will contribute the most to the national economy although the GDP of the province will contract sharply compared to the last fiscal year. The GDP of Bagmati Province is estimated to be Rs 1981 billion. The least contribution will be from Karnali Province. The GDP of this province is estimated to be around Rs 221 billion.

The current fiscal year's national GDP is estimated to grow by 1.86 percent in terms of consumer prices, which is far less than the growth target of 8 percent set by the government.

At the state level, it is estimated that Gandaki Province will have the highest percentage of growth at 3.3 percent while the growth rate of Bagmati Province is expected to be the lowest among all at 1.4 percent. As per the revised estimates of the NSO last year, the growth rate of Gandaki Province was the highest (6.35 percent) and Madhesh was the lowest (4.65 percent) in FY 2021/22.

Based on the economic activity according to the industrial classification, the contribution of the agricultural sector will be the highest in all the provinces except Bagmati. The contribution of wholesale and retail trade sector will be more in Bagmati. The contribution of wholesale and retail trade will be second in Koshi, Madhesh and Lumbini provinces.

In Bagmati Province, the contribution of the real estate business and housing services ranks second. In Gandaki, Karnali and Sudurpaschim, the contribution of public administration and defense sector is second. Except for Bagmati and Madhesh, the contribution of administrative support services activities to the gross domestic product of all provinces is the lowest.