Brain Drain
In 2025, more than 727,000 Pakistanis migrated overseas for employment.
Over 400,000 unskilled and more than 200,000 skilled workers secured jobs abroad in 2025.
A total of 18,352 highly educated professionals and 13,657 highly skilled workers moved abroad during the year.
Profession-wise, the outflow included 5,659 accountants, 3,795 doctors, 1,640 nurses, 1,725 teachers and 5,946 engineers, alongside 10,503 cooks, 163,718 drivers, 6,475 electricians and a striking 465,138 labourers.
The data also lists 12,703 technicians, 11,777 managers, 5,700 masons and 2,306 plumbers among those who left for overseas employment.
Overall, the breakdown shows 222,171 skilled, 42,257 semi-skilled and 466,062 unskilled workers leaving the country in 2025.
In terms of destinations, Saudi Arabia accounted for more than 530,000 workers, followed by Qatar (68,376), the UAE (52,664) and Bahrain (37,726).
Smaller numbers headed to Kuwait, the United States, the UK, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Romania.
(Source: Bureau of Immigration)
Pakistan's Foreign Debt
Pakistan secured $3.01 billion in the shape of foreign loans during the first five months of the current fiscal year.
Out of the total foreign inflows, Islamabad received $500 million in the shape of oil facility from Saudi Arabia.
The figures show a sharp rise compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year, when the government had borrowed foreign loans in rupee term of Rs741 billion.
This means borrowing during the first five months of the current fiscal year was Rs117 billion higher, representing an increase of around 15% year-on-year.
A month-wise breakdown reveals that the government borrowed:
o Rs198 billion in July,
o Rs192 billion in August
o Rs124 billion in September
o Rs133 billion in October
o Rs144 billion in November
The government received $54.1 million in grants during the first five months of the fiscal year.
For the full year, the federal government has projected external financing of more than $19.92 billion.
(Source: Ministry of Finance)
Pakistan's Export Destinations
The United States (US) remained the top export destination of Pakistani products during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2025-26, followed by China and the United Kingdom (UK). Here is a brief breakdown:
USA: Total exports to the US during July-November 2025-26 were recorded at US$2.639 billion against the exports of US$2.514 billion during July-November 2024-25, showing an increase of 4.97%.
China: Pakistan exported goods worth US$982.984 million to China against the exports of US$1055.206 million last year, showing a decrease of 6.84%.
UK: Pakistan's exports remained US$904.908 million during the months under review against the exports of US$934.556 million.
UAE: Pakistani exports to the UAE stood at US$833.366 million against US$925.940 million last year
Germany: Exports to Germany rose to US$716.065 million from US$708.936 million last year.
Holland: Exports were recorded at $616.042 million against $621.924 million
Italy: Exports to Italy stood at $513.291 million against $481.461 million.
Spain: Pakistan's exports to Spain were recorded at $673.822 million against the exports of US $601.067 million
Afghanistan: Exports to Afghanistan were recorded at $210.556 million against $408.585 million last year.
Bangladesh: Exports to Bangladesh stood at US$292.119 million against US$315.335 million.
France: Exports to France during the months under review were recorded at US$220.588 million against US$232.881 million.
Belgium: Exports to Belgium stood at US$242.913 million against US$258.055 million.
Saudi Arabia: Pakistan's exports to Saudi Arabia were recorded at US$272.232 million during the current year, compared to US$303.858 million last year.
Turkiye: Exports to Turkiye stood at US$82.495 million against US$137.019 million.
(Source: State Bank of Pakistan)
KP's Hydropower Potential
In 2025, hydropower emerged as the backbone of Pakistan's national energy mix.
With an installed capacity of 14,353MW, hydropower in both the public and private sectors constituted more than 30% of the country's total grid-connected power capacity of 46,605MW.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, endowed with abundant water resources and favourable topography, stands as the country's largest contributor to hydropower generation.
The province hosts:
o Pakistan's largest hydropower station, Tarbela, with an installed capacity of 4,888MW
o Pakistan's first major hydropower station, Warsak, constructed in the 1950s with a capacity of 243MW
Other hydropower stations in KP operated by Wapda include:
o Duber Khwar (130MW),
o Keyal Khwar (128MW),
o Allai Khwar (121MW),
o Golen Gol (108MW),
o Khan Khwar (72MW),
o Jabban (22MW),
o Dargai (20MW),
o Kurram Tangi (18.4MW),
o Gomal Zam (17.4MW)
Pakistan's largest hydropower independent power producer and a key China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project, Suki Kinari with a capacity of 884MW, commissioned in September 2024, is also located in the province.
Two major hydropower projects – Gorkin-Matiltan (84MW) in Swat and Lawi (69MW) in Chitral – are nearing completion and are expected to be commissioned in 2026.
The 300MW Balakot Hydropower Project in Mansehra is in an advanced stage of construction and is scheduled for completion by December 2027
o In addition, hydropower projects with a total capacity of 85.6MW are being developed under public-private partnership arrangements.
KP has also initiated construction of the 5MW Naran–Katha hydropower project in the Kaghan Valley with financing from KfW, the German Development Bank, to provide off-grid electricity to tourist areas.
Several small and medium-sized private-sector projects are under implementation through PEDO, including the 28MW Summer-Gah project in Kohistan and three projects at Machai in Mardan with a combined capacity of 11MW.
Overall, KP's hydropower development portfolio now stands at 6,104MW, comprising 2,873MW in the public sector and 3,231MW in the private sector.
