Over 1.82M Pakistanis Secure Jobs in Saudi Arabia: Report

News Desk 

Islamabad:  As many as 3.27 million Pakistanis, representing approximately 1.3 percent of the country’s population, were sent abroad for employment between 2019 and August 2024 through government channels, according to data provided by the federal government to the Senate. 

The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (MOPHRD) shared this information, revealing that these workers were sent through the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, and the Protectorate of Emigrants, based on the demands of host countries.

The query was raised by Senator Masroor Ahsan from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) during a Senate session, where he asked for a breakdown of the individuals sent abroad for employment over the last five years.

The data provided by the ministry, however, raised concerns due to apparent inaccuracies. A list of 251 countries, allegedly where Pakistani workers were sent, also included “Pakistan.” According to the data, 50 Pakistanis were recorded as being sent to “Pakistan” for employment in 2019.

The total number of Pakistanis sent abroad through government channels was reported as 3,276,861, although a regional breakdown indicated 3,272,659 individuals had emigrated for work during the same period.

By province, 1.79 million people went abroad from Punjab, 1.02 million from Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa, 255,537 from Sindh, 124,900 from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 32,046 from Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), 28,119 from Balochistan, and 5,436 from Gilgit-Baltistan.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Oman were the top destinations for Pakistani workers, with over 1.82 million, 708,268, and 265,496 workers respectively, as per one official list.

Another list showed slightly different figures: 1,829,907 for Saudi Arabia, 707,416 for the UAE, and 265,455 for Oman. Similar discrepancies were found for other countries in the data provided by the ministry.

Additionally, the ministry noted that 33,652 Pakistanis went to the United Kingdom and 3,820 to the United States during this period.

The report was published in Business Recorder on September 7, 2024.