Pakistan Faces Severe Nurse Shortage as More Leave for Better Jobs Abroad

Pakistan is facing a serious healthcare crisis as more nurses continue to leave the country for jobs overseas. Many are moving abroad in search of higher salaries, safer working conditions, and better career opportunities. Experts warn that this growing trend will put even more pressure on Pakistan’s already weak healthcare system.

According to a recent report, Pakistan needs around 700,000 nurses to meet its healthcare needs. But as of 2020, only about 116,000 were registered in the country. With a population of more than 240 million, this gap is described as “catastrophic.”

The Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment reported that nurses made up nearly 6 percent of Pakistan’s highly educated workforce that left the country in 2024. While about 15 percent of nurses from developing nations migrate every year, Pakistan’s outflow is far higher. Between 2019 and 2024, the number of nurses leaving grew at an annual rate of over 54 percent.

In 2024 alone, a record 727,000 professionals left Pakistan for better prospects abroad, with a large portion coming from the medical field. By the middle of 2025, another 336,000 had already departed, many of them nurses and doctors.

The World Health Organization suggests at least three nurses per doctor for an effective healthcare system. In Pakistan, the ratio is just half a nurse per doctor, one of the lowest in South Asia. This shortage leaves doctors overworked, patients at risk, and hospitals overcrowded.

The report also highlighted another challenge: 30,000 to 40,000 registered doctors in Pakistan are not practising at all, due to limited opportunities, emigration, or frustration with the system.

If the trend continues, experts warn Pakistan could face a shortage of more than one million nurses, putting the country’s healthcare system under even greater strain.