Economic slowdown drives Pakistan’s unemployment, brain drain to record levels: Report
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New Delhi: Pakistan must generate roughly 30 million jobs over the next decade to absorb new labour market entrants, but recent growth is incapable of it, causing brain drain and weakened productivity, a report has said.
The report from Maldives Insight said the economy grew at an average 1.7 per cent annually between 2022 and 2025, far below what is needed to sustain employment, and the official unemployment rate reached 7.1 per cent in FY25, the highest in 21 years.
The pace of Pakistan's economic growth "is well below the threshold needed to sustain employment, coincided with high and persistent inflation that eroded purchasing power and reduced real household incomes," the report said.
The report cited Population and Housing Census 2023 data arguing that unemployment could be as high as 22 percent.
