Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Chaudhry Salik Hussain told the National Assembly on Wednesday that about 1.7 million Pakistanis are employed across six Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia hosts the largest share.
The minister said more than 1.2 million Pakistanis had travelled to Saudi Arabia alone over the past three years. He added that 169,000 went to the United Arab Emirates and 145,000 went to Qatar for work in the same period.
For other Middle Eastern states, he gave figures of 80,000 for Bahrain, 91,000 for Oman and 10,000 for Kuwait.
Also read: BEOE Portal Lets Job Seekers Verify Overseas Employment Offers · Overseas Pakistanis can use foreign numbers on NADRA Pak ID
Overall departures for work abroad since 2024
Figures presented during Question Hour showed that 1.871 million Pakistanis left the country for employment abroad between 2024 and 2026. Official documents submitted to the House said 15,850 people had departed in 2026 alone, including 681 highly qualified and skilled individuals.
Highly educated citizens among those leaving
The documents put the number of highly educated Pakistanis who secured jobs abroad at 28,726 in 2025, of whom 1,510 were classed as highly skilled. In 2024, a total of 45,830 highly educated citizens went abroad for work.
Those who relocated include doctors, engineers, IT experts and teachers.
