The saga of high inward remittances

In the past week, three interrelated news reports flashed on the media - which went past by many of the readers while it captured the minds and hearts of some. The first report stated that the inward remittances had hit a record high of $4.1 billion in March 2025 - the highest monthly figure ever recorded.

The second were the immigration figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Emigration which indicated that 172,144 individuals ventured overseas for seeking work, during the three months of 2025 and, the third was, yet another unfortunate incident of boat capsize, where number of Pakistani migrants, in search of jobs overseas, died at high seas.

While the nation rejoiced at the news of unprecedented receipt of remittances, with many claiming their ingenuity in this achievement, whereas, on the other hand, the nation gasps at such a large exodus of its citizens overseas in search of work and expresses grief at the death of its citizens at sea - with none claiming responsibility for both these unfortunate happenings.

The intellect and government functionaries are citing multiple reasons of high remittance inflows - claiming it be driven by a combination of factors including increased economic activity in host countries, stronger exchange rates, and government initiatives to encourage legal remittance channels.

While the reasons cited may have some impact on the hike in remittances, the real answer lies in understanding the triangle of high remittances, exodus of the citizens to overseas in search of job and loss of lives at high seas in the quest of livelihood abroad.

The data made available from various sources paints a picture of a significant flow of Pakistani workers abroad, with the GCC region (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Oman) being a major destination:

First three months of 2025: Over 172,000 Pakistanis left for overseas employment.

2024: A record 727,381 skilled workers left Pakistan.

2023: 862,625 Pakistanis moved abroad, with Saudi Arabia as the top destination.

2022: 832,339 people immigrated to various countries in search of employment.

This presents a striking picture that in the last 2 and a quarter years over 2.4 million Pakistanis have left Pakistan for a living. This number does not include illegal migrants and asylum seekers. The migrants include skilled workers, professionals, doctors, engineers, paramedics, teachers and other professionals

The reasons worked out by the analysts underlined the fact that this migration trend is a direct response to the challenges the country currently grapples with, including a burgeoning population, limited domestic job prospects, the impact of soaring inflation, economic and political instability, despondency and unpredictable future. These factors have together fueled the increasing wave of migration from Pakistan.

While the nation grapples with a debate if the migration of talent is a brain-drain or an opportunity the fact remains that Pakistan desperately needs the footprints of its talent on its own soil to build the nation and that if an enabling environment is provided the migration of talent to overseas at this unprecedented rate would dramatically scale down.

The upside is: the more Pakistanis migrate overseas the more remittance inflows into the country. This brings us to the point that there is correlation between the increase in inward remittances to outward migration and it appears logical that the current jump in inward remittances is directly linked to the jump in migration from Pakistan.

In 2024, overseas Pakistanis sent home a total of $30.3 billion in remittances, a 10.7% increase compared to the $27.3 billion received in 2023. This figure represents a significant increase in remittances compared to the previous year. The year 2025 is expected to witness yet another jump and a bigger jump. The question remains: at what cost?

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025