Samina Bibi, 34, lives with her three children in a modest home on the outskirts of Rawalpindi. Early one morning this week she received a message from her husband in Saudi Arabia: his salary would be delayed again. The news left her fighting back tears.
Her husband has worked for a Riyadh construction company for a decade, sending most of his income home. He earns about 80,000 rupees a month — the single source of cash that keeps the household running. For Samina, a late payment is not a minor inconvenience but a shock that affects food, rent, school fees and healthcare. Recent regional conflict, she says, is directly affecting families like hers whose livelihoods depend on work in the Gulf.
Pakistan is one of the world’s largest recipients of remittances, with tens of billions of dollars arriving each year from Pakistanis working abroad, much of it from Gulf states. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates together accounted for more than half of a record $38.3 billion in remittances in fiscal year 2025. The UAE alone contributes roughly one-fifth of the total.
That reliance worries economists and families alike. Rising tensions in the Middle East, shifting labor markets in Gulf countries — including automation and a growing preference for hiring local workers — and reports of workers being sent home all threaten the flow of money. “A sudden slowdown from one major source would create significant pressure on reserves and on migrant families back home,” says economic analyst Khurram Husain.
Remittances have become a pillar of Pakistan’s economy. They bolster foreign exchange reserves and help stabilize the currency, while also providing a safety net for millions of households. “We export labor more than goods and services,” Islamabad economist Safiya Aftab notes. “A slowdown in remittances would obviously cause a lot of difficulty.”
Migration has reshaped family life in Pakistan. Many households are now transnational, with at least one member living and working abroad and the rest of the family remaining at home. Children grow up with video calls and occasional visits; major family moments and emergencies are often faced at a distance. Samina’s youngest still asks when his father will return for good, and she has no answer.
The human cost is clear. When her husband’s hours were cut earlier this year he sent smaller sums; when a payment was delayed completely she had to borrow money to pay school fees. “It’s like everything stops,” she says. “You wait, and you hope.”
The vulnerability is concentrated among low- and semi-skilled workers who are more exposed to layoffs and delays. Immigration lawyer Osama Malik points out that many young Pakistanis are seeking alternatives — work visas for countries such as Malaysia or even Belarus — because Gulf contracts now feel uncertain. In some Gulf countries, workers face salary delays and restrictions on how much can be remitted home, further squeezing families.
Policy experts say Pakistan needs to reduce its dependence on a single region and on remittances by strengthening domestic industries and broadening migration destinations. More sustainable growth in agriculture, manufacturing and higher-value services would create jobs at home and reduce exposure to external shocks, analysts argue.
For families like Samina’s, however, such strategies feel distant. Their daily lives and future security remain tied to the stability of a job thousands of kilometers away. “Our life depends on his job there,” she says. “If something happens, we have nothing here.”
Edited by Srinivas Mazumdaru