KARACHI: Pakistan’s information technology exports rose 18% in July compared with a year earlier, extending a months long stretch of double-digit growth as the government pushes an ambitious plan to turn the sector into a major source of foreign exchange.
IT exports totaled $417 million in July, up from $354 million in the same month last year, according to data drawn from State Bank of Pakistan figures.
The total was little changed from June’s $416 million, suggesting the sector’s rapid year-over-year growth is beginning to level off on a month-to-month basis even as it remains well above last year’s pace.
Over the 12 months through July, IT exports reached $4.66 billion, a 20% increase from $3.87 billion in the previous 12-month period, the data showed.
Net IT exports, export earnings minus the cost of imported IT services and equipment, came to $344 million in July, up 9% from a year earlier, with the trailing 12-month total reaching $4.01 billion.
July’s growth rate marks a moderation from the sharp swings seen earlier this year. IT exports jumped 33% year-over-year in April to $423 million, the fastest pace in months, before growth eased to about 14% in May, according to State Bank data.
The sector then picked back up, closing the last fiscal year at a record $4.6 billion, roughly 21% higher than the $3.8 billion recorded in fiscal year 2025.
The steady climb is central to the government’s “Uraan Pakistan” economic plan, which sets a target of $10 billion in annual IT exports by fiscal year 2029.
Reaching that goal would require sustained annual growth of roughly 30%, well above the 21% expansion the sector posted in the last fiscal year.
Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja has said the government ultimately aims to push IT exports as high as $25 billion over five years.
Industry officials, however, have cautioned that hitting the nearer-term $10 billion target will depend on Pakistan moving beyond low-cost outsourcing work, the model that has driven most of its growth to date, and into higher-value fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, cloud computing and product engineering.
Freelancers have played an outsized role in the sector’s expansion. They accounted for roughly a quarter of Pakistan’s total IT export earnings in the last fiscal year, generating about $1.1 billion, according to figures cited by the Pakistan Freelancers Association.
The country now has an estimated 34,000-plus registered IT and IT-enabled services companies and about 600,000 IT professionals and freelancers, concentrated mainly in Karachi, Lahore and the Islamabad-Rawalpindi area, industry figures cited by the Tribune show.
Pakistan’s IT sector remains far smaller than regional competitors. India’s IT services exports exceed $200 billion annually, and analysts have pointed to Vietnam and the Philippines as other fast-growing rivals.
Analysts have described Pakistan’s recent growth as a foundation to build on rather than a finish line, given the scale of investment needed to compete for higher-value contracts globally.
The technology sector’s growth comes as Pakistan continues to face broader external financing pressures. The State Bank of Pakistan reported a balance-of-payments deficit of $1.83 billion for the last fiscal year, underscoring the importance of export sectors like IT that generate foreign exchange without adding to import costs.
