Pakistan’s IT exports surpassed $3.5 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal year, with IT services alone contributing $3.14 billion, Minister of State for IT and Telecom Shaza Fatima Khawaja said on Sunday.
She noted that the sector recorded a trade surplus of $2.3 billion — the highest among all service sectors — and called the growth a key step toward achieving the government’s Digital Pakistan vision.
Experts say the impact of the State Bank of Pakistan’s 2023 policy—allowing export-oriented IT firms to invest up to 50 per cent of their foreign currency earnings abroad—is now becoming visible. They believe the move has strengthened industry confidence in repatriating export proceeds and has supported the sector’s global expansion.
Under the “Uraan Pakistan” programme, launched in December 2024, the government aims to raise annual IT exports to $10 billion by 2029. Achieving this target would require an average annual growth rate of about 28 per cent over the next four years.
Ms Khawaja also announced that the number of mobile subscribers in the country has crossed 200 million. Of the 13 million new mobile internet users in 2024, eight million were women. She credited the increase to the Gender Digital Divide Policy, which she said helped reduce the gender gap in mobile internet usage from 38 per cent to 25 per cent.
