Pakistani Freelancers' Earnings May Cross USD2.5bn This Fiscal Year

KARACHI: Freelancing industry of Pakistan has taken off rapidly in recent times. Ibrahim Amin, founder-chairman of Pakistan Freelancers Association (PAFLA), estimates the income earned by freelancers in Pakistan at $2.5 billion this year. The figure seems quite realistic considering the tremendous momentum witnessed in an industry which has started playing an important role in Pakistan’s exports.

Pakistani Freelancers Earnings Among the Top Emerging Markets

Pakistani freelancers have made Pakistan the fourth-biggest emerging market for freelance workers globally, according to Pakistan IT Chambers President Ibrahim Amin, which shows increasing involvement in international digital labor markets.

Pakistani freelancers earnings foreign exchange worth $1.76 billion last fiscal year, and in the first month of the ongoing fiscal year – July – freelancers generated foreign exchange worth $175 million in exports. Based on figures released by the State Bank of Pakistan, freelancer foreign exchange has grown by almost 49% annually in recent years.

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Additionally, Mr. Amin proposed that educational websites on YouTube should be exempted from the payment of 5 percent taxes, or at least the tax rate could be reduced to 1 percent. According to him, it was unfair to categorize entertainment and educational websites together under a single tax bracket since both serve entirely different purposes from each other.

The number of Pakistani freelancers has crossed the 3 million milestone, he added, adding that favorable governmental policies may help grow this figure even further. According to him, growth in the freelance base will also have a direct impact on boosting Pakistan’s exports through IT services.

It needs mentioning here that Amin emphasized the importance of both sides in achieving better results, noting that the growth of Pakistani freelancers will have a direct effect on the country’s IT services exports performance.

As per Mr Ibrahim Amin, the federal government of Pakistan is organizing a celebration ceremony of Pakistani freelancers at the Governor House, Karachi, on August 29, where Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunications, Ms Shaza Fatima Khawaja, will be present as the chief guest to motivate Pakistani freelancers and officially recognize them after achieving the milestone of generating $2.5 billion worth of income this fiscal year.