ISLAMABAD: The number of Pakistanis going abroad for employment continues to rise, with over 762,000 nationals travelling overseas for work last year official data revealed.
According to the Bureau of Emigration, a total of 762,499 Pakistanis went abroad for employment in the last year, marking an increase of 35,000 compared to 2024. Around 18,000 highly skilled professionals such as doctors, engineers, managers, nurses, and computer analysts.
Saudi Arabia issued the highest number of work visas, with 530,000 Pakistanis travelling there for employment—78,000 more than the previous year.
The United Arab Emirates granted 52,664 work visas, while 68,376 Pakistanis went to Qatar and over 37,000 to Bahrain.
Other destinations included Oman (9,375), Kuwait (6,590), Malaysia (3,609), China (2,230), Iraq (over 6,000), the United Kingdom (4,355), Turkey (5,288), and the United States (around 1,000).
Overall, more than 54 countries received Pakistani workers under official work visa programs last year.
Last year, 762,499 Pakistanis who went abroad included 18,352 highly educated and 13,657 highly trained Pakistanis. Among those who went abroad, 222,171 trained and 466,000 untrained Pakistanis were also included.
Among the highly educated people, 3,795 were doctors, 5,946 engineers, 5,659 accountants, 11,000 Pakistani managers, 1,600 nurses, and 1,500 computer analysts were included.
Similarly, 1,725 teachers, more than 14,000 supervisors, and more than 6,000 operators went abroad.
Of these 700,000 people, 465,000 were Pakistani laborers and 163,000 were drivers.
According to provincial data, 393,000 Pakistanis from Punjab, 227,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 58,733 from Sindh, 5,000 from Balochistan, 27,500 from Azad Kashmir, 39,500 from tribal areas, 8,000 from the federal capital and 1,600 from the northern areas went abroad for work.
Read also: US increases visa fee for skilled workers up to $ 100000 under new policy
