Pakistan’s IT & IT-enabled Services (ITeS) Sector is making significant contribution to exports and foreign exchange earnings.
During July to December of Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23, export remittances of US$ 1.333 billion have been realized by the IT & ITeS Industry, the highest among all Services at 37.8% of total export of services, and an increase of 2.4% in comparison to US$ 1.302 billion reported for the same period last year.
During FY 2021-22, ICT export remittances surged to US$ 2.615 billion at growth rate of 24% in comparison to remittance receipts of US$ 2.107 billion in FY 2020-21.
Pakistan’s IT & ITeS Sector has delivered the largest trade surplus across Services and second highest across Goods & Services after the Textile Sector.
The trade surplus of US$ 1.17 billion (87.47% of total ICT export remittances) has been realized by the IT & ITeS Industry during the period July to December of FY2022-23 to meet the foreign currency crunch faced by the Country, an increase of 19.96% as compared to trade surplus of US$ 972 million for the same period in FY 2021-22.
Over that past five years, phenomenal upward growth of 178% in IT & ITeS exports has been realized at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30%, the highest growth rate in comparison to all other local industries in Services and even higher than the textile sector which stands at 148%.
Pakistan is secod most financially attractive IT & ITeS outsourcing destination in the world according to Kearney’s Global Services Location Index. Whereas, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has ranked Pakistan as the 3rd largest supplier of digital labour including clerical & data entry services, creative & multimedia services, professional services, sales & marketing support services, software development & technology services, writing and translation services. In software development & technology services, Pakistan is ranked by ILO as the secnd biggest supplier of digital labour.
Pakistan’s IT & ITeS industry is exporting its services to more than 170 Countries and territories. The United States is the largest market accounting for 57% of the export remittances receipts followed by United Kingdom (8%), United Arab Emirates (7%), Singapore (5%), and Ireland (4%). Top 20 IT & ITeS export destinations account for 97% of export remittances and rest of the Countries and territories at present only account for 3%.
The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has developed a comprehensive IT & ITeS Export Enhancement Framework, providing roadmap of initiatives and programs to be carried out on both demand side and supply side, enabling the IT Sector to reach annual export remittance receipts of US$ 15 billion in five years.
The annual potential export remittance receipts of Pakistan’s IT Sector for the next five years are as follows with aim to reach US$ 15 billion mark by FY 2027-28:
Note: The above data was shared by the Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Amin-ul-Haque with the National Assembly on February 27, 2023.
