By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan’s IT exports slipped 1% year-on-year to $329 million in May 2025, snapping a 19-month streak of consecutive growth, industry data showed on Tuesday.
Still, the sector showed resilience with a 4% month-on-month gain, and the 11-month tally for fiscal year 2025 reached approximately $3.5 billion, a robust 19% jump from the prior year. The performance reflects an industry bolstered by global outreach and supportive central bank policies, even as it navigates its first annual decline in over a year and a half.
The May figure of $329 million topped the trailing 12-month average of $314 million, with daily export proceeds averaging $16.5 million, up from $15.9 million in April 2025. Net IT exports, total exports minus imports, hit $294 million for the month, a 1% year-on-year increase and a 2% month-on-month rise, outpacing the 12-month average of $272 million.
The $3.5 billion haul for 11MFY25 underscores a sector firing on multiple cylinders. Pakistani IT firms have aggressively expanded their client base, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, tapping into lucrative markets.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has sweetened the deal by lifting the retention limit in Exporters’ Specialized Foreign Currency Accounts to 50% from 35%, giving companies more flexibility with their overseas earnings. The central bank also greenlit equity investments abroad through these accounts, a move that’s paying dividends.
Add to that a steadier rupee, and IT exporters are bringing home a bigger slice of their profits. “The stability in PKR has been a game-changer,” industry observers note, pointing to increased repatriation as a key growth driver.
Pakistani IT companies aren’t sitting still. Top players showcased their wares at LEAP 2025 in Saudi Arabia and Web Summit Qatar 2025, forging ties with global clients.
A survey by the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) found that 62% of IT firms now maintain specialized foreign currency accounts, a sign of the sector’s growing sophistication.
The SBP upped the ante in FY25 with a new Equity Investment Abroad (EIA) category, letting export-oriented IT firms use up to 50% of their specialized account proceeds to buy stakes in foreign entities. The policy aims to boost confidence among exporters, encouraging them to funnel more earnings back to Pakistan.
Looking Ahead
The IT industry projects full-year FY25 exports to hit roughly $3.8 billion, a 17% year-on-year increase. That optimism aligns with the government’s ‘Uraan Pakistan’ economic blueprint, which targets $10 billion in IT exports by FY29—a lofty goal implying a compound annual growth rate of 28%.
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