Pakistan trails every major South Asian and Southeast Asian economy in female labour force participation, with only 23 per cent of its 88 million working-age women engaged in economic activity, according to an analysis published by Karachi-based The News International. The remaining 68 million women stay entirely outside the workforce — a structural gap that decades of policy effort have failed to close.

How Pakistan Compares to Its Neighbours

The contrast with regional peers is stark. Female labour force participation stands at 40 per cent in Bangladesh, 33 per cent in Sri Lanka, 54 per cent in Indonesia, and 56 per cent in Malaysia. Bangladesh, in particular, built its economic transformation on the textile sector, where women constitute two in every three factory-floor workers. Malaysia's manufacturing and services sectors similarly absorb women at scale. Pakistan, the analysis argues, built no comparable industrial engine.

25 Years, Barely Any Progress

Data from Pakistan's 2024-25 Labour Force Survey (LFS) reveals that female participation grew by only a few percentage points over a quarter-century — from 14 per cent in 2001 to 22 per cent in 2024. Of the women who do participate, nearly two-thirds work in agriculture, and half are unpaid family workers, meaning they contribute economically without receiving a formal wage. High-value sectors tell a different story: the wholesale, retail, transport, and communication industries collectively account for close to a third of GDP, yet women make up only 2–3 per cent of their workforce.

The Real Barriers: Infrastructure, Incentives, and Domestic Work

The analysis pushes back on the conventional explanation that culture alone holds women back. 'If families are willing to send daughters to university, the barrier is clearly not some immovable cultural wall. The real barrier is the absence of an ecosystem in which women can work and perform in economic activity,' the article states. Women are accessing university education even in remote parts of Pakistan, the report notes, suggesting the obstacle lies elsewhere.

Three structural gaps are identified. First, Pakistan's industrial base is not expanding, so it is not generating the entry-level formal jobs that historically drew women into the workforce in Bangladesh and Malaysia. Second, the absence of safe, affordable, and reliable public transport in most Pakistani cities forces women to either refuse distant jobs or accept informal work close to home — often while enduring harassment in public spaces. Third, women lack the financial incentives that have worked in neighbouring countries. The analysis cites Nepal, where a 50 per cent income-tax reduction for women-registered businesses, collateral-free SME loans, and subsidised micro-business registration through a dedicated Women Entrepreneurship Fund have visibly expanded female economic presence.

The Hidden Work That Stays Invisible

The 2024 LFS estimates that 84 per cent of working-age women in Pakistan carry the primary burden of unpaid domestic work. Their average weekly working hours are nearly double those of men — 26 hours for women against 13 hours for men. The article argues this data 'rewrites the narrative that millions of women in Pakistan are doing nothing': they are working, but without wages, recognition, or relief.

The analysis concludes that skill development, entrepreneurship support, and education drives — while necessary — will remain insufficient as long as the domestic work burden is not redistributed. Without addressing that foundational constraint, the report warns, millions of women will remain structurally locked out of paid employment regardless of the opportunities created around them.