Pakistan IT Exports Hit $435m, Near Record High

Key takeaways

Pakistan’s IT exports reached $435 million in September 2026, the second-highest monthly total ever and up 18% year-on-year. Freelancers earned a record $197 million, while first-quarter FY27 exports stood at $1.25 billion.

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Pakistan’s information technology exports reached $435 million in September 2026, the second-highest monthly total on record and just $2 million short of the all-time high of $437 million set in December 2025, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Friday.

The September figure was up 18 percent compared with the same month last year and 10 percent above August, according to Schehzad’s posts on X, first reported by Business Recorder. It lifted cumulative IT exports for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026-27 (July–September) to $1.25 billion, roughly 18 percent higher than the corresponding quarter a year earlier.

Schehzad credited targeted incentives for exporters and the IT sector in the FY27 federal budget, alongside a strengthening digital economy, for the momentum. He said the growth was supporting export earnings, high-value employment and Pakistan’s integration with global markets.

Freelancers hit a record of their own

Pakistan’s freelancers generated a record $197 million in export earnings during September, the highest monthly level ever recorded — up 49 percent year-on-year and 11 percent month-on-month, Schehzad said.

“Pakistan’s growing freelance economy is increasingly translating its young digital talent into exports, non-debt foreign exchange earnings, high-value opportunities and greater integration with global markets,” he said.

Freelance exports for the first quarter stood at about $550 million, up 46 percent from the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to the adviser.

Why it matters

IT exports have become one of Pakistan’s steadiest sources of foreign exchange that does not add to the country’s debt — a distinction that matters when reserves and borrowing costs are under constant watch. The sector recorded $4.6 billion in exports in fiscal year 2025-26, up 20.6 percent year-on-year from $3.8 billion in 2024-25, and the September numbers put the current fiscal year on a run rate approaching $5 billion if the pace holds.

Together, they reinforce the government’s case that incentives and digital-economy reforms are beginning to translate into measurable export diversification beyond textiles. The numbers also land as Islamabad pursues over 4% growth and a privatisation programme alongside its IMF-backed fiscal consolidation.

What’s next

The open question is whether December 2025’s $437 million record falls in the coming months — and whether the growth survives beyond the current policy mix. Exporters’ groups have consistently argued that sustaining the trend will require expanding Pakistan’s share of global technology markets, a friendlier business environment for IT firms and continuity in the incentives announced in the FY27 budget. Watchers will look at the October and November numbers to see if the trajectory holds into the winter contracting season.