Pakistan's software engineers and freelancers are becoming some of its most dependable earners of hard currency. Exports of telecommunications, computer and information services rose by about 18% year-on-year to $417m in July 2026, up from $354m a year earlier, according to State Bank of Pakistan data released on Tuesday. The sector has become the single largest component of the country's services exports, which helped narrow the services trade deficit by a third last fiscal year. Whether that momentum can carry the industry to a government target of $10bn by 2028-29 is another matter.
The July gain of $63m follows a strong 2025-26, when technology-related exports reached $4.6bn, compared with $3.814bn in the previous year, an increase of around 21%. Total services exports for the year came to $10.02bn, against $8.45bn in 2024-25, according to the central bank. Within that total, transport services brought in $916m, travel $1.116bn and other business services $2.155bn, all comfortably eclipsed by digital work.
Figures from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics tell a similar story. They put services exports at $10.035bn for 2025-26, up 18.81%, while imports of services grew by a more modest 5.67% to $11.929bn. As a result, the services trade deficit contracted by 33.38% to $1.894bn, from $2.843bn. In June 2026 alone, services exports jumped 37.2% to $955.91m, leaving a monthly gap of just $23.09m, compared with $204.7m in June 2025.
The new fiscal year has opened in similar fashion. Overall services exports rose by about 27% to $927m in July, from $728m a year earlier. Ahsan Iqbal, the planning minister, presenting the Monthly Development Update on Saturday, said combined exports of goods and services reached $3.94bn in July, a rise of 13.1%. Merchandise shipments grew more slowly, by 9.4% to $3.0bn, helped by surgical goods, food, leather products and textiles.
The broader numbers presented by the minister were largely encouraging. Large-scale manufacturing expanded by 5% in 2025-26, reversing a 0.74% contraction the year before, with 16 of 22 sectors growing and automobiles leading at 57.8%. Workers' remittances rose by 13% to $3.63bn in July, after a record $41.6bn last year. The current-account deficit was contained at $328m, down from $529m, and tax collection by the Federal Board of Revenue climbed 8.4% to Rs820.9bn.
Fiscal discipline also earned a mention. The budget deficit narrowed to 2.6% of GDP in 2025-26 from 5.4% the year before, the lowest in two decades, according to Mr Iqbal. Consumer-price inflation eased to 9.2% in July from 11.7% in May, though it remains above the 4.1% recorded a year earlier, a rise the minister ascribed largely to base effects and the pass-through of global food and energy prices. Through the Uraan Pakistan programme, he said, the aim is to turn hard-won stability into growth led by exports. The government has tried to nurture technology exports by expanding broadband, promoting freelancing and software services, and easing the path for tech firms. It has also extended a 0.25% tax rate for registered IT companies and freelancers. Pakistani firms have sought fresh markets at international technology fairs and, with official backing, at exhibitions in Europe and America.
Industry figures are optimistic but frank about weaknesses. Noman Said, chief executive of SI Global Solutions, called the $10bn goal ambitious but achievable, urging stakeholders to adopt an aggressive export strategy and invest in human capital. Saad Shah, who runs Hexalyze, warned that many local companies and freelancers remain stuck in low-value, traditional assignments, and argued that they should pursue lucrative work in cybersecurity, machine learning, AI-driven automation and enterprise solutions, often through partnerships.
Freelancers want more recognition and support. Ibrahim Amin, chairman of the Pakistan Freelancers Association, said the ranks of digital workers were swelling as awareness of global work trends spread. He argued that their foreign-exchange contribution deserved national acknowledgement to draw students into the field, and called for a dedicated fund and tax incentives to help freelancers set up small companies that could create jobs at home.
The arithmetic of the target is daunting. Moving from $4.6bn to $10bn within three years requires growth far faster than the 18-21% the sector has recently managed. The data show that digital services can outperform older categories and steady the external account. Doubling their scale, however, will depend on whether Pakistani firms can climb the value chain rather than merely add volume.