Written By: Mujahid Hussain
Article: The Impact of Brain Drain on Pakistan’s Economic Growth. According to the report released by the United Nations, 64 per cent of Pakistan’s population is aged below 30 years. Thanks to the prevailing political instability, economic uncertainty, fear of doing business, decaying institutional and governance structure, improper use of the human capital, and ineffective use of resources, the youth is losing hope.
Those who left Pakistan in 2023 were mostly trained youth. The emigrating educated youth included 5,534 engineers, 18,000 associate electrical engineers, 2,500 doctors, 12,000 computer experts, 6,500 accountants, 2,600 agriculture experts, 1,600 nurses and as many as 21,517 technicians.
Moreover, more than 445,000 students graduate from various universities every year across Pakistan, and over 31% of them are left unemployed, with the rest either doing odd jobs or leaving the country in search of better life.
In another report released by Gallup, over two-third of young Pakistanis surveyed said they wanted to work and study abroad, and 50% of them said that they would never return to the homeland.
Pakistan’s GDP contracted by 0.2% in 2023, following a robust 6.2% expansion the previous year. With a population exceeding 245 million and a growth rate of 1.96% in 2024. Pakistan faces immense pressure to provide employment opportunities, particularly for its youth. Regional disparities in population growth rates highlight varying economic challenges across administrative units. Brain drain exacerbates these disparities by draining talent from underdeveloped regions, perpetuating economic inequalities. Pakistan’s unemployment rate of 8.5% reflects the daunting task of creating sufficient job opportunities to absorb the growing workforce. Brain drain compounds this challenge by exacerbating the mismatch between available skills and market demands. The leaving of skilled youth to brain drain undermines Pakistan’s demographic dividends and potential for economic innovation. Failure to retain and harness this youthful energy stifles economic progress and perpetuates a cycle of underdevelopment.
The loss of scholars and skilled professionals deprives Pakistan of valuable human capital, hindering technological advancement, research, and development. The leaving of doctors, engineers, scientists, and other professionals undermines the country’s capacity for innovation and sustainable economic growth.
Addressing brain drain requires a multifaceted approach encompassing policy interventions to create conducive environments for business investment, promote merit-based employment, foster entrepreneurship, and enhance access to quality education and vocational training.
Calculating the impact of brain drain on Pakistan’s economy involves measuring key indicators affected by the phenomenon. The calculated effect rates expose important negative impacts across various economic metrics. considering the GDP growth rate, brain drain leads to an important decrease of approximately 3.23% in GDP growth rate during affected periods. This decline underscores the detrimental effect on economic expansion, hindering Pakistan’s ability to achieve sustainable growth and development.
The brain drain contributes to a substantial increase in unemployment rates, with the calculated effect rate reaching approximately 37.1%. This surge in unemployment exacerbates workforce challenges, creating a mismatch between available skills and market demands and impeding efforts to reduce unemployment rates.
On the bases of above calculation this proposed potential demographic challenges, straining public resources and limiting economic opportunities. Addressing brain drain requires comprehensive strategies aimed at retaining skilled professionals, fostering entrepreneurship, and promoting innovation to mitigate its adverse effects and pave the way for sustainable economic growth.
Unexpectedly, this massive outflow of talented population more than contributes to the fragility of governmental institutions and numerous industries. Obviously, this unpleasant fact has not suddenly come to the public. This has been the case for decades because of the continuing trend of poor governance and the steadily decreasing number of job possibilities. The young people’s thoughts are still filled with layers upon layers of uncertainty as a result of ineffective short-term initiatives. In addition, these young people’s parents and relatives push them to look for work in foreign countries, which makes sense given the current state of affairs in the entire country.
The young are driven to the limit as the political elites continue to clash with one another. They are calling out for help, but no one is interested in listening to them. What distinguishes the incoming administration from the outgoing one? One shouldn’t be very optimistic about it, however, given that every political party has run a government before and that they are all among their previous occasions. However, before the nation loses all of its remaining talent, the government must take action. But it’s easier said than done.
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The writer is an M.Phil. scholar at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics Islamabad and can be reached at: Hussainmujahid777@gmail.com
The Impact of Brain Drain on Pakistan’s Economic Growth
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