In 2015, Pakistan saw the biggest number of citizens leaving the country to work abroad, totaling approximately *******. The years between 2012 and 2016 witnessed the largest levels of labor migration from the country, with at least ******* traveling abroad each year. Some of the lowest levels of labor migration from the country were recorded in 2020 and 2021; this was largely due to the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the leading destinations for Pakistani migration? Pakistan has a sizable population of over *** million people. Countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council are popular destinations for Pakistani migrant workers due to their proximity and ease of access. For example, most of the labor migration to the United Arab Emirates in 2022 came from Pakistan. Citizens from Pakistan work in a wide range of fields, including both skilled and unskilled professions. However, most skilled workers from the country often opt for careers in Western Europe or North America due to higher wages and currency exchange rates. Vital to the economy, Pakistani citizens working abroad play a key role in their nation’s economy. The unemployment rate in Pakistan has significantly increased in recent years. Therefore, the country is heavily dependent on remittances coming from citizens working abroad. Over the years, the value of remittances received in Pakistan has continued to increase, witnessing only a small dip in 2022. These remittances help workers support their families back in Pakistan. Additionally, they aid in shoring up the country’s foreign currency reserves, which is vital for international trade.

In financial year 2023, it is estimated that 17.28 thousand more Pakistanis migrated to Australia than emigrated. This marked a significant increase in net overseas migration from Pakistan compared to the previous fiscal year.

Pakistan PK: Net Migration data was reported at -1,071,778.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of -1,181,920.000 Person for 2012. Pakistan PK: Net Migration data is updated yearly, averaging -440,733.000 Person from Dec 1962 (Median) to 2017, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,395,238.000 Person in 1982 and a record low of -1,396,377.000 Person in 2007. Pakistan PK: Net Migration data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Pakistan – Table PK.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the total number of immigrants less the annual number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens. Data are five-year estimates.; ; United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Sum;

Norway Emigration: Asia: Pakistan data was reported at 125.000 Person in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 177.000 Person for 2016. Norway Emigration: Asia: Pakistan data is updated yearly, averaging 201.000 Person from Dec 1967 (Median) to 2017, with 51 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 488.000 Person in 1982 and a record low of 0.000 Person in 1970. Norway Emigration: Asia: Pakistan data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Statistics Norway. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Norway – Table NO.G007: Emigration: by Country.

As of 2022, approximately ***** thousand Bangladeshi citizens left the country to work in Oman. This was followed by **** thousand migrants from Pakistan.

As of 2022, approximately *** thousand Pakistani citizens left the country to work in the United Arab Emirates. This was followed by over *** thousand Bangladeshi migrants, who resettled to the UAE.

Migration trends in the metropolitan conurbation of Rawalpindi-Islamabad (% age).

Abstract

The major aim of the survey is to collect a set of comprehensive statistics on the various dimensions of country’s civilian labour force. The survey profiles information to pave the way for skill development, planning, employment generation, assessing the role and importance of the informal sector and, sizing up the volume, characteristics and contours of employment. The specific objectives of the survey are as follows: - To collect data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the total population i.e. age, sex, marital status, level of education, current enrolment and migration etc; - To acquire current information on the dimensions of Pakistan’s labour force; i.e. number of persons employed, unemployed, underemployed or out of labour market; - To gather descriptive facts on the engagement in major occupational trades and the nature of work undertaken by the institution/organization; - To profile statistics on employment status of the individuals, i.e. whether they are employers, own account workers, unpaid family workers or paid employees (regular/casual); - To classify non-agricultural enterprises employing household member(s) as formal and informal; - To put figure on the hours worked at main/subsidiary occupations; - To provide data on wages and mode of payment for paid employees; To quantify occupational health and safety of employed persons by causes, type of injuries/diseases occurred, parts of body injured, type of treatment received and period of absence from work; and - To collect data on the characteristics of unemployed persons i.e. age, sex, level of education, previous experience if any, occupation, industry, employment status related to previous job, waiting time invested in the quest for work, their availability for work and expectations for future employment.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers all urban and rural areas of the four provinces of Pakistan defined as such by 1998 Population Census, excluding Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and military restricted areas. The population of excluded areas constitutes about 2% of the total population. All enumeration Blocks in urban areas and mouzas/dehs/villages in rural areas have been enumerated. The number of sample households (32,640) enumerated is less than the estimated sample size (32,744) due to non-contact and refusal cases in urban and rural areas.

Analysis unit

Individual

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sampling Frame

Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) has developed its own sampling frame for urban areas. Each city/town is divided into a number of enumeration blocks. Each enumeration block is based on 200 to 250 households on the average with well-defined boundaries and maps. The list of enumeration blocks as updated through Economic Census 1999-2000 and the list of villages/mouzas/dehs of 1998 Population Census have been taken as sampling frame. Enumeration blocks and villages are considered as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) from urban and rural domains respectively.

Stratification Plan: - Urban Domain: Karachi, Lahore, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sialkot, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad are considered as large cities. Each of these cities constitutes a separate stratum, further substratified according to low, middle and high income groups based on the information collected in respect of each enumeration block at the time of demarcation/ updating of urban area sampling frame. - Remaining Urban Areas: After excluding the population of large cities from the population of respective ex-administrative division, the remaining urban population of exadministrative division from provinces is grouped together to form another stratum called other urban. Thus each ex-division in remaining urban areas in the four provinces constitutes a stratum - Rural Domain: Each administrative district in the Punjab, Sindh and NWFP is considered an independent stratum whereas in Balochistan, each ex-administrative division constitutes a stratum. - Universe: The universe for Labour Force Survey consists of all urban and rural areas of the four provinces of Pakistan defined as such by 1998 Population Census. The universe is adjusted for the extent of coverage.

Sample Design

• Procedure: A stratified two-stage sample design is adopted for the survey.
• Selection of primary sampling units (PSUs): Enumeration blocks in urban domain and mouzas/dehs/villages in rural are taken as Primary Sampling Units (PSUs). In the urban domain, sample PSUs from each ultimate stratum/sub-stratum have been selected with probability proportional to size (PPS) method of sampling scheme. In urban domain, the number of households in an enumeration block as updated through Economic Census and respective population of 1998 Census for a stratum is considered as measure of size.
• Selection of secondary sampling units (SSUs): The constituent households of sample PSUs are taken as Secondary Sampling Units (SSUs). A specified number of households i.e. 12 from each urban sample PSU, 16 from rural sample PSU have been selected with equal probability using systematic sampling technique with random a start.
• Sample Size and Its Allocation: Methodologically, a sample of 32744 households is considered appropriate to provide reliable estimates of key labour force characteristics. The entire sample of households (SSUs) is drawn from 2319 Primary Sampling Units (PSUs) out of which 1090 are urban and 1229 are rural. As urban population is more heterogeneous therefore, a higher proportion of sample size is allocated to urban domain. As a means to get reliable estimates, a higher proportion of sample is assigned to NWFP and Balochistan in consideration to their smallness. After fixing the sample size at provincial level, further distribution of sample PSUs to different strata in rural and urban domains in each province is made proportionately.

Note: More information on the sampling procedure is available in the report extract document available as external resources, and on the PBS website at http://www.pbs.gov.pk/sites/default/files/Labour%20Force/publications/lfs2005_06/methodology.pdf

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Federal Bureau of Statistics has been carrying out Labour Force Survey (LFS) since 1963. As an ongoing process, the survey’s questionnaire was revised in 1990. Major improvement constituted the addition of probing questions on particular economic activities that tend to go unrecorded with conventional questions, and are mostly carried out by women. The questionnaire was further improved in 1995 to reckon with the size and composition of migration and informal sector. The scope of the survey was extended in 2001-02 to occupational safety and health as well. The questionnaire was further articulated in 2005 for the present LFS 2005-06, the 1st ever held on quarterly basis.

Cleaning operations

Soon after data collection, the supervisors clean, edit and check the filled in questionnaires manually for consistency and completeness and refer back to field where necessary. Editing is done at headquarter by the subject matter section. Computer edit checks are applied to get even with errors identified at the stage of data entry. The relevant numerical techniques are used to eliminate erroneous data resulting from mistakes made during coding. The survey records are further edited and rectified through a series of computer processing stages.

出境：亚洲：巴基斯坦在12-01-2017达125.000人，相较于12-01-2016的177.000人有所下降。出境：亚洲：巴基斯坦数据按年更新，12-01-1967至12-01-2017期间平均值为201.000人，共51份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-1982，达488.000人，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1970，为0.000人。CEIC提供的出境：亚洲：巴基斯坦数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于Statistics Norway，数据归类于Global Database的挪威 – 表 NO.G005：出境：按国家分类。

In 2020/21 there were approximately 696,000 Polish nationals living in the United Kingdom, the highest non-British population at this time. Indian and Irish were the joint second-largest nationalities at approximately 370,000 people.