Investor count surpasses 500,000 at Pakistan Stock Exchange

The total number of investors at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has crossed half a million mark for the first time in history, National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL) CEO Naveed Qazi confirmed to Business Recorder on Thursday.

The NCCPL maintains investor data for the PSX.

“Good economic conditions, good returns [on investment in stocks] and growth trend at the PSX agreed a number of new people to join the investor community at the local bourse,” Qazi said.

“A major boost in the investor-base has been seen in the recent two months [January and February 2026]. The bourse witnessed record over 20,000 new investors in January 2026 and around 18,000 have already been registered in the ongoing month of February,” he said. “In the earlier months, the number of new investors stood at around 10,000 a month. This used be around 5,000-6,000 a month in recent years.”

Also read: Buying returns to bourse as KSE-100 gains nearly 2.6%

Advisor to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad also shared the development in a post on X.

“Pakistan Stock Exchange has just surpassed 500,000 total investors for the first time in history, reaching 502,024 as of February 2026 to date,” he wrote.

“Total investors at Pakistan public markets (direct equity, commodity, MFs [mutual funds], and others) are now around 1.3 million mark,” he said.

Advisor Schehzad said over 227,000 new investors had entered the market since June 2022, showing a “massive 83% expansion in just over 3.5 years”.

Majority investors had joined in the last 3.5 years than in all prior years combined, he said, adding the total number of investors had stood at 275,000 since inception till June 2022. The number of investors surged by 227,000 in the period from June 2022 till February 2026, according to the advisor.

“Most new entrants are young retail investors - a clear sign that confidence in macro stability and reform momentum is strengthening (esp youngsters). Capital markets deepen when trust builds, policy clarity improves, and growth prospects gain credibility - and participation rises accordingly.

“It shows savings are increasingly moving toward productive assets - a key foundation for sustainable economic expansion (as over 16 new IPOs coming this year),” he wrote.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index at the PSX achieved an impressive 51% return in 2025, following 55% in CY23 and 84% in CY24, according to Arif Habib Limited (AHL).