Pakistan’s digital economy undergoes transformative shifts, with declining ICT goods in imports, stringent tariffs, and a surge in IT exports.
- The share of ICT goods in imports in Pakistan decreased to 5.53% in 2020-21, losing one percentage point despite the growing trends that had been observed in the past (3.9% to 6.5% between 2018-21). || Source: World Bank
+ Possibly attributed to elevated tariffs, Pakistan ranks in the top 5 globally for stringent taxation policies on digital trade, imposing a significant 9.7% average tariff on digital products. || Source: World Bank - In 2022, the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) counted more than 19,000 ICT companies in Pakistan, with about 6,000 exporting ICT products and services to over 120 countries. || Source: ITA
+ In 2021, exports of telecommunication, computer, and IT services surged to $2.1 billion, up from $1.4 billion in 2020, a growth rate of 47 percent. According to PSEB, ICT exports to the United States, Pakistan’s largest market, grew 55 percent in 2021, from $847 million to $1.3 billion. || Source: ITA - Pakistan has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia in McKinsey & Co’s 2021 report on the Pakistani ecosystem. During the fiscal year 2020-21, Pakistan’s IT exports increased 47.4 percent and crossed the $2 billion mark for the first time in the country’s history. || Source: Ministry of Telecommunications
