New Delhi, Jan 31 As the Pakistan’s government goes gaga over record remittances — $38.5 billion in FY25 – the narrative actually obscures the devastating reality that the country is haemorrhaging its future, a new report has revealed.
The reality is that mass departure of doctors, engineers and skilled professionals “should not be called a point of pride, but a shameful and profound policy failure”, reports The Express Tribune.
A nation cannot build its future on money wired from abroad while the talent needed to deploy it productively walks out the door, the report argued, adding that for a country the size of Pakistan, it is actually a disaster in the making.
About 5,000 doctors, 11,000 engineers and 13,000 accountants left Pakistan between 2024 and 2025, along with hundreds of thousands of other skilled and unskilled workers.
“This exodus is hollowing out hospitals while stalling innovation and entrepreneurship,” said the report.
IT further argued that remittances may increase consumption and bolster foreign reserves, but they are not a growth engine.
“Rather than cheering the departure of our best and brightest, there is a need to create a country where they want to stay,” it added.
Emigration is a survival strategy borne of rational desperation for stability, meritocracy and safety.
“Unfortunately, even where the state rewards merit, such as subsidised medical education, starting salaries in highly skilled professions are so low that people without familial wealth cannot even afford room and board,” said the report.
Another report said that labour is now Pakistan’s biggest export, above and beyond any single physical commodity and this is not about to change.
“The vast majority of Pakistanis abroad are engaged in low-skilled occupations, often informal and precarious, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” says the report in Dawn.
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