Islamabad, Pakistan — More than 762,000 Pakistanis, including over 18,000 highly educated professionals, migrated abroad for employment in 2025, underscoring the country’s growing dependence on overseas workers to sustain its fragile economy amid falling foreign investment and sluggish exports.
According to the latest report by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, a total of 762,499 Pakistanis left the country in 2025 in search of job opportunities. This represents a modest increase from 727,381 workers who migrated for employment in 2024, reflecting a steady upward trend in labour outflows.
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The data highlights a broad spectrum of professions among those leaving Pakistan. In 2025, the overseas workforce included 5,659 accountants, 10,503 chefs, 3,795 doctors, and 5,946 engineers. The education and healthcare sectors were also affected, with 1,640 nurses and 1,725 teachers taking up jobs abroad. Transport-related migration remained significant, with 163,718 drivers seeking employment overseas.
Skilled and semi-skilled labour formed a major portion of the outflow. The report recorded 465,138 labourers, 5,700 masons, 12,703 technicians, and 11,777 managers migrating in 2025. In addition, 2,306 plumbers, 2,027 waiters, and thousands of other workers moved abroad for better economic prospects.
A breakdown by skill and education level showed that 18,352 highly educated individuals, 13,657 highly skilled workers, and 222,171 skilled professionals left Pakistan last year. Meanwhile, 42,257 semi-skilled workers and 466,062 unskilled labourers also migrated, highlighting the depth and diversity of the workforce leaving the country.
The Gulf region remained the top destination for Pakistani workers. Saudi Arabia alone accounted for 530,256 migrants, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 52,664 and Qatar with 68,376. Other Middle Eastern destinations included Bahrain (37,726) and Kuwait (6,590).
Beyond the Gulf, smaller but notable numbers of Pakistanis moved to other regions. The report showed that 1,005 Pakistanis migrated to the United States, 4,355 to the United Kingdom, and 984 to Germany. In East Asia, 2,230 workers went to China, 2,210 to Japan, and 39 to South Korea. Eastern Europe also featured as a destination, with 1,109 Pakistanis finding employment in Romania.
Economists note that remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis have become the country’s largest source of non-debt foreign inflows, far surpassing foreign direct investment and helping to stabilise foreign exchange reserves. However, the continued outflow of skilled and highly educated professionals has raised concerns about brain drain, especially at a time of persistent economic uncertainty and political instability at home.
The report underlines the growing global demand for Pakistani workers across sectors ranging from unskilled labour to highly specialised professions, while also reflecting the limited employment opportunities within the country.
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