Pakistan made $1,454.881 million by offering various Information Technology (IT) services to different countries in the first six months of the current fiscal year 2023-24, as per a report from ARY News. This amount represents an increase of 8.98% compared to the $1,334.969 million earned during the same period in the previous fiscal year 2022-23, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
During this period, the export of computer services increased by 10.32%, rising from $1,064.579 million last year to $1,174.481 million in July-December 2023-24. Among these computer services, exports of software consultancy services slightly decreased by 0.11% from $3.394 million to $3.333 million this year, while exports of hardware consultancy services rose by 3.401% from $391.570 million to $404.875 million.
However, the export of repair and maintenance services experienced a significant decline of 39.15% from $1.530 million to $0.930 million. On the other hand, the export and imports of computer software services increased by 2.79% from $302.376 million to $310.807 million.
The export of information services decreased by 19.72% from $2.180 million to $1.750 million during the review period. Within the category of information services, exports of information-related services increased by 3.64% from $0.687 million to $0.712 million. Conversely, exports of news agency services decreased by 30.48% from $1.493 million to $1.038 million.
The export of telecommunication services increased by 3.89% from $268.021 million to $278.650 million. Among these telecommunication services, exports of call center services increased by 12.14% from $107.006 million to $119.994 million. However, exports of other telecommunication services witnessed a slight decrease of 1.58% from $161.204 million to $158.656 million during this year, according to PBS data.
Pakistan’s earnings from IT services saw an overall increase in the first half of the fiscal year 2023-24, with notable growth in computer services and certain segments of telecommunication services. However, there were declines in some areas such as repair and maintenance services and certain information services.