Pakistan’s IT exports hit record $4.6 billion in FY26, surpass government target

Pakistan’s information technology exports reached an all-time high of $4.6 billion in FY26, rising 21% from $3.8 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to data compiled by Topline Securities.

The annual performance brought technology exports within the government’s FY26 target range of $4.5 billion to $5 billion, marking the achievement of the lower end of the official target.

Monthly IT exports stood at $416 million in June 2026, increasing 23% compared with the same month last year and 12% from May 2026. The June figure was also among the highest monthly export receipts recorded during the period covered by the report.

The chart included in the report shows that monthly IT exports remained above $350 million throughout most of FY26. Receipts rose to $437 million in December 2025, the highest monthly figure shown, before easing to $374 million in January and $365 million in February.

Exports subsequently recovered to $413 million in March and $423 million in April. They declined to $373 million in May before rising again to $416 million in June.

Net IT exports, calculated after deducting technology-related imports from export receipts, reached $346 million in June. This represented year-on-year growth of 13%.

For the full fiscal year, net IT exports totalled $3.98 billion, indicating that the technology sector continued to generate a substantial net inflow of foreign exchange for the country.

The gap between gross IT exports of $4.6 billion and net exports of $3.98 billion implies technology-related imports of roughly $620 million during FY26.

Pakistan’s technology exports include proceeds from software development, business process outsourcing, information technology-enabled services and other computer-related services provided to overseas clients.

The sector’s performance has become increasingly important for Pakistan’s external account because technology businesses require fewer imported inputs than traditional manufacturing industries and generate most of their earnings in foreign currency.

The government has set a target of increasing annual IT exports to $10 billion by FY29 under the Uraan Pakistan national economic plan. According to Topline Securities, achieving this objective would require a compound annual growth rate of 29.5% through FY29.

The FY29 target would require Pakistan to more than double its technology exports from the FY26 level within three years. Based on exports of $4.6 billion in FY26, the sector would need to add another $5.4 billion in annual receipts to reach the $10 billion goal.

While FY26 growth of 21% was sufficient to cross the government’s immediate target, the required 29.5% annual growth rate for FY29 indicates that export expansion will have to accelerate further.

Sustaining that pace would depend on increasing the number of technology exporters, securing higher-value international contracts and expanding the country’s capacity in software, outsourcing and digitally delivered services. It would also require companies to bring a larger share of their overseas earnings into Pakistan through formal banking channels.

The record FY26 result strengthens the technology sector’s position as one of Pakistan’s major sources of services export earnings and foreign exchange, although the government’s $10 billion objective will require considerably faster growth over the next three fiscal years.