KARACHI: Pakistan’s information and communication technology (ICT) export earnings rose 19.78 percent year-on-year to $2.61 billion in the first seven months of the fiscal year ending June 2026, the IT ministry said on Tuesday, highlighting the sector’s growing role as a source of foreign exchange.

Pakistan’s IT and IT-enabled services sector has emerged as one of the country’s fastest-growing sources of foreign exchange, generating over $3 billion annually and employing roughly a million freelancers in addition to formal software firms.

Unlike traditional manufacturing exports, the industry relies primarily on remote digital labor, from software development to back-office services, making it resilient during economic crises but constrained by payment barriers, talent migration and infrastructure reliability challenges. However, IT services require minimal imports and benefit from a large pool of young workers and freelancers, making the sector central to government plans to boost dollar inflows and reduce pressure on the balance of payments.

“ICT export remittances surged 19.78 percent, reaching $ 2.61 billion during the first seven months of FY 2025-26 compared to $ 2.18 billion achieved during the corresponding period last year,” the IT ministry said in a statement.

Monthly exports also expanded, with ICT services exports reaching $374 million in January 2026, up 19.5 percent from $313 million a year earlier, according to the ministry’s data.

The ministry said ICT remained the country’s highest-earning services sector, well ahead of “other business services,” which generated $1.21 billion over the same July-January period.

Pakistan has increasingly relied on technology exports, including software development, outsourcing and freelance services, to generate foreign exchange as the economy adjusts under structural reforms and tight import controls following a balance-of-payments crisis.

Officials say continued growth will depend on easing payment bottlenecks, improving digital infrastructure and expanding higher-value technology services beyond traditional outsourcing.