Islamabad: More than 700,000 Pakistanis left the country for overseas employment during 2025, including 18,352 highly educated professionals, according to official data released by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment.
The documents show that in 2024, a total of 727,381 Pakistanis had gone abroad for work. The latest figures indicate that overseas employment remains a major source of livelihood for Pakistan’s workforce.
According to the bureau, the professionals who went abroad in 2025 included 5,659 accountants, 10,503 cooks, 3,795 doctors, and 5,946 engineers.
The data further revealed that among those who left the country, 13,657 were highly skilled workers, 222,171 skilled workers, 42,257 semi-skilled workers, and 466,062 unskilled workers.
In terms of destination countries, Saudi Arabia remained the top choice, with 530,256 Pakistanis travelling there for employment. Other major destinations included the United Arab Emirates (52,664), Qatar (68,376), Bahrain (37,726), and Kuwait (6,590).
A smaller number of Pakistani workers also moved to South Korea (39), the United States (1,005), the United Kingdom (4,355), Germany (984), Italy (813), China (2,230), Japan (2,210), and Romania (1,109).
