In the first half of this year, more than 832,000, including 400,000 highly qualified young Pakistanis, left the country in pursuance of job opportunities abroad, contributing to a phenomenon known as the ‘brain drain’. This trend has been persistent over the past several years, resulting in a total of 2.75 million young people leaving Pakistan in the last five years.
According to experts, uncertain economic conditions, high inflation, and unemployment are the primary factors driving this exodus. These challenges are prevalent across various regions in the country. Reports reveal that over 1.2 million young individuals have pursued employment overseas during the tenure of the current coalition government.
Further examination of the data shows that in the first six months of this year alone, 832,000 individuals migrated to different countries across 40 sectors in pursuit of employment opportunities.
This group comprises individuals with exceptional education and skills. The data indicates that over the past 18 months, skilled workers from diverse professions have departed from Pakistan. Notable figures include 11,000 accountants, 11,000 engineers, 4,000 doctors, 34,000 technicians, and 37,500 managers.
The data also highlights the departure of professionals from various other fields, such as 4,000 nurses, 1,560 teachers, 29,000 electricians, 13,445 computer typists, 8,000 agricultural experts, 15,000 computer operators, 24,000 supervisors, and over 1,600 draftsmen.
During this period, a majority of the young Pakistani individuals seeking better job prospects chose to migrate to Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia (700,000), the United Arab Emirates (229,000), Oman (111,000), and Qatar (90,000). Outside of the Middle East region, the data reveals that over 8,000 Pakistanis migrated to Great Britain, while more than 1,000 individuals chose other European countries as their preferred destinations.
