ISLAMABAD: The record of the last 10 years shows that the highest number of highly skilled citizens of Pakistan left the country in search of jobs in 2022.
In total, in the last decade, around 150,059 highly educated citizens of Pakistan left the country for jobs abroad.
Bureau of Migration and Overseas Employment records show that the lowest number of highly educated citizens left Pakistan in 2020. They were 5121. The last 10-year record shows that the highest number of citizens, including highly skilled, highly skilled or unskilled left in 2015.
It is worth mentioning here that according to experts, during the 2020-2021 Covid years, the number of Pakistanis going abroad for jobs was the lowest due to global restrictions on travel. Also, the record since 1971 reflects that most of the people went abroad from Rawalpindi. More than 3.3 million people traveled abroad from this single district since 1970, and 6.46 million Pakistanis went to Saudi Arabia in search of work since 1971. In 2013, 12,057 highly educated people left Pakistan for jobs abroad. In 2014, 14,647 highly educated citizens left Pakistan for work. The total number of people who left the country in the same year was 752,466. Statistics show that more than 9.4 million people left Pakistan in search of employment in 2015, of which 17,484 were highly educated. In 2016; 839,353 people left the country for job opportunities abroad. Among them, 16,510 were highly educated.
In 2017; Out of a total of 496,286, 16,029 highly educated citizens left Pakistan. In 2018; 16,105 highly skilled Pakistani citizens went abroad for job opportunities out of a total of 382,439. In 2019; 625,876 Pakistanis left the country, of which 15,525 were highly educated. In 2020, 5121 highly educated citizens left the country out of a total of 225,213. In 2021; 288,280 Pakistanis went abroad in search of jobs, of which 7,396 were highly educated. The total number of Pakistanis leaving the country in search of work in 2022 was 832,339. Of these, 17,976 were highly educated. However, as of June 2023, about 10,845 highly educated Pakistani nationals left the country for jobs abroad out of a total of 395,166.
