Pakistan’s Gig Economy: What People Are Actually Doing to Earn.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has conducted the Labor Force Survey 2025 and released its data set as well. This time , LFS also asks about online jobs and what people are really doing.
We therefore have a better understanding of Gig Economy in the country and some of the findings are surprising

A few clear patterns stand out:

🔹 Teaching tops the list (20%)
Tuition, online teaching, and Quran education remain the largest source of gig income. This reflects both strong demand and low entry barriers — education has quietly become Pakistan’s biggest informal platform economy.

🔹 Trading & reselling comes next (17%)
Selling goods via Daraz, PakWheels, Alibaba, Instagram, and home-based commerce shows how digital marketplaces are absorbing under-employment, especially in urban areas.

🔹 Ride-hailing & transport services (16%)
InDrive, Yango, Careem, Bykea — transport continues to act as a shock absorber for job volatility, particularly for men with limited formal options.

🔹 Freelancing is significant — but not dominant (13%)
Software, data, and online freelancing matter, but the data reminds us that Pakistan’s gig economy is still largely low-to-mid skill, not just tech-driven.

🔹 Delivery platforms (11.5%)
Foodpanda, PandaMart, Daraz Express and others highlight the platformisation of physical labour — steady work, thin margins, high dependence on algorithms.

Big takeaway

Pakistan’s gig economy is not a Silicon Valley story.

It is a household resilience story — education, trading, transport, and services filling gaps left by formal job creation.

Access the dashboard here : https://lnkd.in/dU447MAV