By Farooq Awan

Pakistan’s ICT services exports increased 17.4% to $811 million during the first two months of FY2026-27, with August earnings reaching a record $394 million, strengthening the contribution of digital services to the country’s external receipts.

According to the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives' Monthly Development Update – September 2026, available with Wealth Pakistan, ICT services exports rose from $691 million in July-August 2025 to $811 million in July-August 2026.

The increase translates into approximately $120 million in additional ICT export earnings compared with the corresponding two-month period of the previous year.

In August alone, ICT services exports reached a record $394 million, representing year-on-year growth of 16.91%, according to the report.

The two-month performance indicates that the technology services sector maintained its export momentum at the beginning of FY2026-27 and continued to increase its contribution to Pakistan’s services and overall export earnings.

ICT growth came alongside an improvement in the country's broader export performance. Total exports of goods and services increased 9.2% to $7.256 billion during July-August 2026, compared with $6.643 billion in the corresponding period last year.

This means the country earned about $613 million more from exports of goods and services during the first two months of the fiscal year compared with the same period last year.

Goods exports alone increased 7.04% year-on-year to $5.46 billion, compared with $5.10 billion in July-August FY2025-26.

Textiles remained the largest merchandise export group, with earnings rising 6.76% to $3.41 billion, while higher exports were also recorded in food, petroleum products, chemicals, leather, surgical goods and other manufactured products.

The 17.4% growth in ICT services has therefore outpaced the increase in merchandise exports during the period, highlighting the growing role of technology services in diversifying Pakistan's foreign exchange earnings beyond traditional goods exports.

The improvement in exports was accompanied by stronger workers' remittances. Remittance inflows increased 14.7% to $7.287 billion during July-August FY2026-27, compared with $6.353 billion in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Together, higher exports and remittances helped support Pakistan's external position despite a sizeable increase in imports.

Imports of goods and services rose 11.1% to $14.008 billion during July-August, with the ministry attributing the increase to stronger domestic economic activity and rising demand for productive and capital goods.

Despite imports growing faster than exports, the current account deficit narrowed to $543 million during July-August 2026, compared with $853 million in the corresponding period of 2025.

The September update places export promotion among the priorities required to sustain the economic recovery, alongside price stability, fiscal discipline and structural reforms.

The latest ICT figures provide one of the strongest export-growth indicators at the beginning of FY2026-27, with $811 million earned in two months and a record $394 million recorded in August alone.

Credit: INP-WealthPk