Pakistan’s Brain Drain
Pakistan has been facing a mass exodus of its skilled labor in the form of brain drain. Brain drain occurs due to multiple economic and social issues or due to personal preferences. On average, over 80,000 people have been leaving the country annually. The number is alarming for a developing country like Pakistan because it already lacks a skilled workforce. However, there are certain benefits of the phenomenon that are difficult to overlook. There are both pros and cons of the brain drain.
Major Benefits of the brain drain include remittances sent back by overseas Pakistanis to assist the country’s foreign exchange reserves, support households with their expenses, and help balance the payment deficit. The highest-ever remittance recorded was $ 4.1 Billion in March 2025. The average annual remittance sent to Pakistan is around $ 30.3 Billion. Moreover, the diaspora in host countries can act as a bridge to create people-to-people harmony. It fosters the essence of globalization and connectivity helping the networking among people. The diaspora serves as a bridge between host and origin countries, expanding cultures and shared values. The migrating population acquires skills and expertise, which can benefit their home country if they choose to return. The diaspora invests in their home country, creating businesses and job opportunities. This not only stimulates economic activity but also helps reduce poverty.
On the other hand, the drawbacks of brain drain are diverse and multidimensional. Pakistan has been investing in education and youth training, but high levels of brain drain lead to a lack of skilled labor in the workforce. According to some reports, 172,000 people have left the country for jobs abroad in the first quarter of 2025. A shortage of skilled workers results in reduced innovation and weaker industries. Experienced When individuals leave domestic industries, it creates a gap in the local market that is difficult to fill. Additionally, there are challenges related to family separation, as some family members remain abroad to support their families back home. This situation makes it challenging for individuals to meet their economic needs, and they often find themselves away from their families for extended periods, visiting only after long intervals.
Brain drain reveals major governance and policy issues, which are important to be catered to immediately. The country is unable to adjust the skilled workforce or provide good incentives for experts to stay. The economy of the country needs to provide business friendly environment to the investors to come and invest here. Other governance issues include institutional inefficiencies like long paperwork and high tariffs that create hurdles for new investors to enter the market. From the total percentage of emigrants, Pakistan has an average of 40 to 50% Skilled laborers leaving the country. The return ratio is very low and people generally do not return once settled. The wages are generally low compared to some foreign countries, so the people with expertise opt for opportunities that pay them more. The wage differences create the push effect for the experts to leave the country while the host countries with decent wages pull these skilled laborers. The education system lacks a proper balance between giving education and skill sets to the graduates. Fresh graduates often lack the proper skills to adjust to the industry and those who have expertise leave the country to explore foreign opportunities. There are no specific strategies to either retain the experts of the industries or attract foreign experts. Pakistan spends less than 1 % of its GDP on research and higher education, which creates the gap. Research is the key to innovation and researchers have limited opportunities in the country so they move out.
But as the saying goes “There is a silver lining in every cloud”, the same is the situation in Pakistan. The country has imposed an education emergency to cater to education-related issues. The education emergency policy caters to providing basic education to all. There has been work to update the curriculum to match the international standards of education and skill set. There have been incentives like funded scholarships for students to study abroad and then return to serve the country. Moreover, there has been the creation of National incubation centers (NIC) and the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) to encourage the growth of technology and innovation. These centers can act as hubs for research and innovation paving the way for growth. The digitalization of the industries has initiated, like shifting from paperwork to digital tools to coordinate tax payments and provide facilities to consumers as well as investors. This also fulfills the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related to education, industry, and innovation which are goals 3 and 9 respectively. Steps towards these goals can ensure a smooth transition of the country’s unstable economy to stable growth.
For a country like Pakistan which faces multiple issues, these small steps will slowly and gradually lead to a stable growth path. The impacts of the change will be visible slowly but the right steps eventually will lead to stability and prosperity.
The views and opinions expressed in this article/paper are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Spine Times.
Laiba Maheen
The writer is a student of Social Sciences and Public Policy.
