Reports reveals key reasons behind Pakistan's brain drain

KARACHI: The trend of migration in educated Pakistani youth is increasing exorbitantly, according to a report by PIDE.

A report by the think tank Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) explained that disappointment with the future and the feeling of insecurity in Pakistani youth were among the major reasons for the brain drain.

According to the figures by Overseas and Immigration of Pakistan, around 281,000 Pakistani citizens have moved to other countries in search of employment opportunities in 2024.

It refuted the 700,000 figure given by a Gallup Pakistan’s representative in the “Subah Bakhair” program.

Meanwhile, the PIDE report suggested that around 70 percent of educated youngsters, male and female, want to migrate due to economic instability and unemployment in Pakistan.

A PIDE report in 2022 said that “62 percent of the educated young population of Pakistan, aged between 15 to 24 years want to leave the country as they are disappointed with their future”.

“Most of the youth want to migrate to improve their economic condition, but there are some other reasons behind the migration of youth belonging to Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Gilgit Baltistan,” said the report.

“The young population of these provinces described hurting of their self-esteem and lack of equal opportunities as main reasons for their desire to shift to another country,” the report said, adding that “the youth of Punjab and Islamabad showed the least interest in migration”.

But what are the reasons behind the increasing rate of migration?

Social experts are of the view that the Pakistani youth want to leave the country as they are disappointed with their future owing to worsening economic conditions and unemployment.