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Overseas Pakistanis send record $41.6 billion remittances; Saudi, UAE lead
Overseas Pakistanis have become the single largest pillar of external financial support for Pakistan's economy, contributing billions of dollars in terms of remittances
- PUBLISHED: Thu 9 Jul 2026, 5:09 PM
Remittances by overseas Pakistanis jumped 8.6 per cent to $41.6 billion during 2025-26 fiscal year, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed gratitude to overseas Pakistanis for sending higher remittances.
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He said that the increase in remittances reflected the trust of overseas Pakistanis in the government policies.
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Calling the overseas Pakistanis a valuable asset, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that he, along with the entire nation, was proud of them, and assured that steps for their welfare were among the government's priorities.
The State Bank of Pakistan's data showed that Pakistanis in Saudi Arabia remitted over $9.78 billion, followed by the UAE at $8.80 billion, United Kingdom ($6.32 billion), the US ($3.62 billion), Italy ($1.54 billion) among others.
There are over 15 million Pakistanis living abroad who send remittances every month to support their families back home. A large number of them live and work in the six Gulf countries – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait.
In the UAE, there are around two million Pakistanis with a large number of them working in Dubai and Northern Emirates.
Overseas Pakistanis have become the single largest pillar of external financial support for Pakistan's economy. The remittances by the South Asian country's diaspora now dwarf other sources of foreign exchange, accounting for roughly 20 times the country's typical annual foreign direct investment, and comfortably exceed the value of all of Pakistan's merchandise exports.
The diaspora's contribution helped Pakistan offset a widening trade gap, with the record inflows helping offset a 21.6 per cent year-on-year increase in the trade deficit, which widened to $39.5 billion, allowing the country to maintain a current account surplus despite rising import payments.
The latest data revealed that more than 763,000 Pakistanis migrated abroad for employment through official channels in 2025, underscoring the country's continued position as one of the world's major sources of overseas labour, according to figures shared at a training session in Islamabad.
The data was presented during a training programme organised by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), aimed at promoting safe and fair labour migration and safeguarding workers from exploitation.
