IT Industry Posted $1.17 Billion Trade Surplus in First 6 Months of FY23

A trade surplus of $1.17 billion (87.47 percent of total ICT export remittances) has been realized by the IT & ITeS Industry of Pakistan in the July to December period of the fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23), an increase of 19.96 percent as compared to a trade surplus of $972 million for the same period in FY22. Official documents of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) revealed that the IT & ITeS sector has delivered the largest trade surplus across services and the second highest across goods & services after the textile sector. Pakistan’s IT & ITeS industry is exporting its services to 170+ countries and territories. The US is the largest market accounting for 57 percent of the export remittance receipts, followed by the United Kingdom (8 percent), United Arab Emirates (7 percent), Singapore (5 percent), and Ireland (4 percent). Pakistan’s IT & IT-enabled Services (ITeS) sector is making a significant contribution to exports and foreign exchange earnings. During the period under review, export remittances of $1.333 billion have been realized by the IT & ITeS Industry, the highest among all services at 37.8 percent of the total export of services, and an increase of 2.4 percent in comparison to $1.302 billion reported for the same period last year. Over the past 5 years, upward growth of 178 percent in IT & ITeS exports has been realized at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent, the highest growth rate in comparison to all other local industries in services and even higher than the textile sector which stands at 148 percent. The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) has developed a comprehensive IT & ITeS Export Enhancement Framework, providing a roadmap of initiatives and programs to be carried out on both the demand side and supply side, enabling the IT sector to reach annual export remittance receipts of $15 billion in five years.