Here’s the arithmetic: During July-May FY2025-26, foreign investors put $3.27 billion into Pakistan. During the same eleven-month period, foreign investors took $1.65 billion out. After subtracting the money going out from the money coming in, Pakistan recorded a net gain of $1.62 billion.
In simple words: during July-May FY2025-26, more foreign investment money came into Pakistan than went out. Plain fact: The claim that foreign capital is leaving Pakistan on a net basis is not supported by the FDI data.
Cold truth: Pakistan’s investment story is weak because the total volume of foreign investment remains too small for an economy of its size. Net FDI of $1.62 billion over eleven months is positive, but modest. It is not enough to transform industry, exports, productivity or employment.
Remember: Weakness is not the same as flight.The real problem is not that foreign investors are rushing for the exit. The real problem is that too few are entering, and those already present are not investing at the scale Pakistan needs.
Pakistan’s investment problem has three dimensions. Too little capital is coming in. Too little of it is creating export capacity. And uncertainty is preventing existing investors from expanding.
Pakistan’s overall investment rate also remains low. The Pakistan Economic Survey 2025-26 places total investment at around 14 per cent of GDP -- far below the level required for rapid and sustained economic growth.
The evidence does not support a story of net flight. It supports a story of hesitation. Pakistan does not face an investment exodus. Pakistan faces an investment drought. So the accurate conclusion is this: Pakistan is not facing net foreign investment flight. It is facing foreign investment scarcity.
The writer is an Islamabad-based columnist.
