Pakistan likes its neighboring country India has always been famous for its IT services around the world. Low costs and better human resources push international companies to outsource all of their IT services to developing countries. For this reason, Pakistan has seen massive growth in its IT services exports over the years. Despite the heavy economic recession, this fiscal year 2021-2022 was no different and the IT service export Industry made a record total revenue of around $2,615 million.
Now that sure is great numbers, but what is even better about it is the fact that this is a 24% increase from last year’s IT service exports, where the numbers remained at $2,107 million in 2021-21.
Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) published detailed findings about the IT industry and the amount of money each sub-sector namely (Computer Services, IT Services, Telecom Services and Software Services) made in the IT Export industry. Let’s discuss each one of them and also break them down in detailed statistics.
Export of Computer Services
The Pakistan IT export industry performed exceptionally well in computer services, the computer service industry saw an exceptional 26.40 percent growth, overall the industry grew from a total of $1,666.310 million last fiscal year to $2,106.145 this year. Exports of software consultancy services were the most prominent in computer services, witnessing a rise of 43.43 percent, rising from $554.612 million to $795.480 million. Hardware consultancy services saw a whooping 429.58 percent rise, growing from $0.551 million to $2.918 million.
Export of Computer Software Related Services
With the passage of time software has become a significant field, it’s almost a gold mine and a brilliant opportunity for IT exporting countries like Pakistan. Pakistan’s IT export industry saw a growth of 34.87 percent in software-related services this fiscal year. Last year the country made $417.485 million from software services, the amount grew to $563.071 million this time, which is a good increase nonetheless.
Amongst the computer software service industry, exports of repair and maintenance services actually decreased from $1.446 million last year to $0.662 million this fiscal year. Other computer software services, however, saw a good 7.25 percent increase and rose from $693 million to $743.230 million.
Export of Information Technology Services
IT services have been in high demand lately, and Pakistan surely is capturing it, IT service exports from Pakistan saw an impressive 31.08 percent increase, going up from $3.990 million to $5.230 million. News Agency services that come under the IT sector are also highly demanded, and increased by nearly 50 percent, going from $2.304 million to $3.448 million. Other smaller or unrelated Information Technology services also grew by a small 5.69 percent, going from $1.686 million to $1.782 million.
Export of Telecommunication Services
While Pakistan’s local telecom industry might be in deep waters, telecom service exporters seem to be doing pretty well with an increase of 15.30 percent. The telecommunication export service industry went from $437.500 million in 2021 to $504.440 in this fiscal year. Infamous call center services experienced the highest growth of 39.43 percent, going from $154.554 million to $215.501 million.
Other telecommunication services grew by a small 2.12 percent and their revenue also went up from $282.946 million to $288.939 during this fiscal year.
Final Thoughts
Despite going through tough financial and political circumstances, the IT export industry not just thrived but also grew by massive percentages. A major reason for this is the fact that the industry is completely dependent on other economies for work and revenue thus making this industry a gold mine for any unstable or developing economy.
An IT export industry not only stays unaffected by political and financial conditions but also helps bring massive foreign currency into the country, thus improving reserves. In a nutshell, you could think of the IT export industry as a great shield against all circumstances, therefore governments should not only actively invest in the industry but also try and increase IT influx in the country.
