Islamabad, Apr 9, 2025: In the first quarter of 2025, over 172,000 Pakistanis left the country to seek employment in various regions, primarily in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations.
The Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment (BEOE) reported that from January to March 2025, a total of 172,144 Pakistani migrant workers relocated to over 50 countries, averaging 57,381 departures each month.
Saudi Arabia emerged as the top destination, accounting for more than 121,940 workers, which made up approximately 70% of the total workforce exports.
Other GCC countries, including Qatar (12,998), Bahrain (9,139), and Oman (8,331), also saw significant numbers of Pakistani workers.
However, the UAE experienced a notable decrease, with only 6,891 workers migrating, largely due to frequent changes in visa policies and emigration regulations that slowed down manpower exports to major UAE cities like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah.
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Ibrahim Amin, a consultant in the banking sector for overseas Pakistanis, emphasized the need for authorities to create a platform that connects overseas employment promoters, diplomatic missions, and foreign organizations.
This forum would help disseminate the latest employment and visa policy updates to aspiring workers, especially those seeking opportunities in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Additionally, Amin proposed the creation of a system to screen potential migrants, ensuring that individuals such as professional beggars, fraudsters, and those with criminal histories are not able to enter these countries.
He stressed that the government and relevant agencies should work collaboratively to support expatriate Pakistanis in the GCC, ultimately boosting remittance inflows via official banking channels.
Amin also suggested that the government could facilitate the opening of bank accounts for Pakistani workers in the UAE and Saudi Arabia to increase remittances, potentially exceeding $1 billion from each country.
He pointed out that while over 4.4 million Pakistanis reside in these nations, many blue-collar workers do not have bank accounts, forcing them to rely on informal channels like Hawala and Hundi to send money back home.
Despite the presence of multiple Pakistani banks in the GCC, high regulatory requirements, such as minimum deposit amounts of 5,000 Dirhams or Riyals, have deterred many workers from opening accounts.
To address this, he recommended that commercial banks, under the guidance of the banking regulator, improve their services for non-resident Pakistanis to encourage the transition from informal to formal remittance channels.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has highlighted that Pakistan receives substantial remittances from both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with monthly averages exceeding $700 million and $600 million, respectively, contributing to a total of $3 billion in remittances each month.
