IT Exports Surge By 34% YoY in July 2024

The country’s information technology and IT-enabled services (ITeS) export remittances comprising computer services and call center services registered around a 4 percent decline in the first month of the current fiscal year i.e. July as it remained at $286 million compared to $298 million in June 2024.

According to official data, IT export remittances increased by around 34 percent on a year-on-year basis in July 2024 compared to $214 million in July 2023.

The IT export remittances reached an all-time high of $3.223 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24 while registering 24 percent growth compared to $2.596 billion in 2022-23.

Internet services remained slow for the last several weeks which according to sector experts may hit the country’s IT exports negatively.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications stated that efforts of the ministry and the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) in close coordination with the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) for accelerated international business development and improving ease of doing business environment have enhanced IT and ITeS exports and resulted in building IT industry’s confidence.

The ministry has identified several constraints including inconsistency in policies, taxation issues, and banking hurdles which are hampering the country’s information technology sector’s export potential of around $15 billion.

The Economic Survey says that the IT industry in Pakistan currently generates an annual export of around $2.6 billion. However, to achieve the ambitious target of yearly exports of $15 billion in the next five years, adding at least 200,000 proficient and specialized IT professionals is necessary. Pakistan’s ICT industry caters to the world’s largest entities among its regular clients.

Several international companies, including Global enterprises like Bentley, Ciklum, IBM, Mentor Graphics, S&P Global, Symantec, Teradata, and VMware have established global consulting services centers, research and development facilities, and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) support services centers in Pakistan, thus, generating high paying job opportunities for the talented youth, contributing to the development of the soft image of Pakistan, and attracting FDI.

Major tech hubs in Pakistan’s IT and ITeS industry are Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad/Rawalpindi.

Pakistan’s ICT industry has 600,000+ English-speaking IT and BPO professionals with expertise in current and emerging IT products and technologies.