The Bureau of Emigration & Overseas Employment has released latest data showing a significant surge in the number of highly qualified nationals leaving Pakistan in search of job opportunities abroad.
According to the data, the year 2022 witnessed the highest emigration of skilled individuals in the past decade, with a total of 17,976 highly qualified Pakistanis seeking work abroad.
The total number of Pakistanis who left the country for job opportunities in 2022 was 832,339.
However, as of June 2023, around 10,845 highly qualified nationals of Pakistan have already left the country for jobs overseas out of a total of 395,166 individuals.
The accumulated data for the past ten years reveals that a staggering 150,059 highly skilled nationals left Pakistan in pursuit of better employment opportunities abroad.
In 2013, 12,057 highly qualified individuals left Pakistan for work abroad, however the number increased to 14,647 highly qualified nationals in 2014.
The peak year was 2015, with over 9.4 million Pakistanis leaving the country for job opportunities, out of which 17,484 were highly qualified. In 2016, a total of 839,353 people left the country for job opportunities abroad, and 16,510 were highly qualified among them.
In 2017, 16,029 highly qualified nationals left Pakistan out of a total of 496,286 while16,105 highly skilled went abroad in 2018.
In 2019, 625,876 Pakistanis left the country, with 15,525 among them being highly qualified. 288,280 Pakistanis went abroad in search of jobs, with 7,396 of them being highly qualified in 2021.
Remarkably, the year 2020 witnessed the lowest emigration of highly qualified individuals, with only 5,121 Pakistanis leaving the country for work abroad.
In a broader perspective, the data from 1971 to the present day shows that Rawalpindi has been the leading district with the highest number of outgoing nationals. Since 1970, over 3.3 million people have traveled abroad from this district alone. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia emerged as the top destination for Pakistani job seekers, with a remarkable 6.46 million individuals going there in search of work since 1971.
