Workers Abroad Now Earn Pakistan More Than Its Factories

Key Points:

Overseas Pakistanis sent home $40.48 billion in 2025, more than the $30.55 billion the country earned from merchandise exports.
Remittances stood at $1.07 billion in 2000, when exports brought in $9.03 billion.
The 2025 inflow was equal to 9.94 per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product.

FAISALABAD: Pakistanis working abroad sent home more money in 2025 than the country earned from its merchandise exports.

According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, remittances received by Pakistan reached $40.48 billion in 2025. Merchandise exports earned $30.55 billion in the same year.

The World Bank data show the inflow was worth $1.07 billion in 2000, rising to $9.69 billion in 2010, $19.31 billion in 2015 and $26.09 billion in 2020. It climbed from $34.91 billion in 2024 to $40.48 billion in 2025.

World Bank table of personal remittances received by Pakistan from 2000 to 2025 — World Bank data — the figures behind this report, highlighted.

The same World Bank series put merchandise exports at $9.03 billion in 2000 and $30.55 billion in 2025. The 2025 figure was lower than the $32.32 billion recorded in 2024.

World Bank table of Pakistan merchandise exports from 2000 to 2025 — World Bank data — the figures behind this report, highlighted.

In 2000, exports were worth more than eight times the money sent home by Pakistanis abroad. A quarter-century later, the order stands reversed.

The Asian Development Bank’s Key Indicators Database puts the 2025 inflow at 9.94 per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product.

For Faisalabad, a city built on textile exports, the reversal carries a particular weight. The country’s largest dollar inflow now comes not from its factories but from its citizens working abroad.

The gap between the two streams came to $9.93 billion in 2025. For the textile city, that gap is the defining economic fact of the year.

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