Pakistan’s information technology (IT) exports for January 2023 fell 23% month-on-month (MoM) to the lowest since May 2022. IT exports for Jan. 23 was $190 million, with 20% and 35% MoM declines in computer and telecom services respectively. In computer services, exports of computer software and software consultancy declined by 25 percent and 15 percent MoM, respectively.
IT exports fall 23% to an eight-month low in January 2023
On a year-over-year (yoy) basis, IT exports were up 2 percent for January 23 due to an 8 percent year-over-year increase in telecom services. Exports for January 23 are the lowest since May 2022, when $184 million. The amount is below the 6-month moving average of $221 million.
On a broader level, a slowdown can be seen after April 2022, with annual growth averaging 3 percent from May 22 to January 23, compared to an average annual growth of 32 percent in the previous nine-month period from August 21 to April 22.
The slowdown in IT exports mainly points to a global slowdown in IT spending. In its latest report, Gartner downgraded its IT spending growth forecast to 2.4 percent in 2023 from 5.1 percent.
Pakistan’s IT Ministry has set an export target of $5 billion for FY23. The monthly average run rate of $218 million in the current fiscal year indicates that Pakistan will miss the export target by a wide margin.
In MFY23, IT exports increased 2 percent year-over-year to $1.52 billion. Slight growth was driven by 3 percent year-over-year growth in computer services to $1.22 billion.
Segment-wise breakdown for the month of January 2023 indicates telecom services are down 35% MoM and up 8 percent year-over-year to $29.7 million. Similarly, computer services declined 20% month over month and rose slightly year over year to $159.9 million.
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