WB Reports 42.4% Pakistani freelancers in software development

The world bank has conducted a survey and has released a report revealing that approximately, 42.2 % of freelancers in Pakistan are working in the software development niche. This report from World Bank is titled “At Your Service? The Promise of Services Led Development”.These Pakistani freelancers make up about 10.5 % of global freelancers in this category. This ratio might seem less but it is higher as compared to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka but lower than that of India.

The report also mentioned the figures from the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) and registered that the total number of registered IT companies in Pakistan is 4,641 and there are 4,066 registered call centers. The three major cities where this industry is operating are Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, having almost 300,000 IT professionals working as employees.

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The report also highlighted the surge in IT exports in Pakistan. It mentioned that the ICT services exports have increased by a compound average growth rate of 10.8 percent per year. The growth rate has increased from $433 million in fiscal year 2009-10 to over $1 billion in 2018-19.

WB Reports 42.4% Pakistani freelancers in software development

The report also added that around 52% of  Pakistan’s telecommunications, computer, and information services exports went to the United States, and 8.8 % to the United Arab Emirates, whereas seven percent to the United Kingdom.

Other than this the computer-related services exports have increased tremendously from 44 percent to 73 percent between 2009-10 and 2018-19, with an average annual growth of 17.3 percent.

No doubt the above-mentioned figures reveal that Pakistan is going in the right direction. The surge in IT, ICT and Telecom exports shows the youth talent in these fields and how people are generating revenue for Pakistan through freelancing. While the government is very supportive of digitalization and e-services, it should create a better working environment for people belonging to this field to help them excel in the world.

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