Pakistan experienced a record surge in doctor emigration in 2025, raising serious concerns about the long-term capacity of the country’s healthcare system even as medical graduate numbers remain steady. An analysis by Gallup Pakistan, based on data from the Bureau of Emigration, shows that approximately 3,800 to 4,000 doctors left the country last year, marking the highest annual outflow ever recorded. This represents a major shift from previous decades when annual departures were typically in the hundreds.
Despite producing around 22,000 new doctors annually and having nearly 370,000 registered medical professionals, officials caution that these figures do not accurately reflect the real healthcare workforce. Many registered doctors are not actively practicing; some are unemployed, working in non-clinical roles, or already living abroad. As a result, the effective availability of doctors within Pakistan is much lower than official registration numbers suggest.
With a population of about 250 million, Pakistan needs at least 250,000 practicing doctors to meet the World Health Organization’s minimum standard. Although the country appears to meet this benchmark on paper, experts warn that the growing emigration trend is eroding the actual availability of medical professionals at the ground level.
Gallup’s analysis indicates that doctor migration began accelerating after 2010 and has continued to rise steadily, reaching a historic peak in 2025. Researchers describe this as a structural change, suggesting that Pakistan’s medical education system may be increasingly producing doctors who ultimately seek careers abroad rather than remaining to serve domestic healthcare needs.
