Pakistan’s exports of advertising and market research services rose 19 percent year-on-year to $30.7 million in July–September 2026, according to State Bank of Pakistan data. The figure stood at $25.8 million in the same quarter a year earlier, showing steady growth in the country’s digital services exports.
The broader category of ‘other business services’ performed even more strongly, with exports reaching $620 million in the same quarter, up 27 percent year-on-year. Within that category, exports of consulting and public relations services rose 22 percent to $81.2 million.
The figures were shared at Payoneer Connect Lahore, an event hosted by the global payments company Payoneer that brought together more than 40 marketing agencies. Held under the theme ‘The Export Era of Global Marketing’, the event explored how Pakistani agencies can win clients abroad and scale their businesses internationally.
Agencies look to global markets
Representatives from the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA) and Google’s Customer Solutions team also took part in the event. P@SHA Vice Chairman Samad Saleem spoke about the policy support and advocacy work under way to help digital services exporters grow, as the government pursues its target of $15 billion in IT exports by 2030.
Artificial intelligence was a key theme of the gathering. A fireside chat with Ali Imran Memon, founder and chief executive of Kitsune AI, looked at how agencies can move away from charging by the hour and towards AI-powered agents and scalable products.
Industry watchers say the export figures reflect a wider shift in Pakistan’s services economy, where marketing, consulting and technology firms are increasingly selling their expertise to clients overseas. With demand for digital services rising globally, agencies at the event said the challenge now is to build the skills, systems and reputation needed to compete for bigger international contracts.
The growth in marketing and business services exports comes at a time when Pakistan’s wider services trade is also expanding. Services exports have been one of the brighter spots in the country’s external accounts, with information technology and professional services leading the way.
For the agencies gathered in Lahore, the message of the event was clear: the demand for Pakistani digital services is real, and the opportunity lies in moving up the value chain. Rather than competing only on cost, speakers said agencies should build specialist expertise, adopt artificial intelligence tools and package their work as products that can be sold again and again to clients around the world.
