In Pakistan, the reality of the digital economy is not universal. It is stark, comparative and bifurcated. Young people belonging to the same generation are experiencing this reality in different ways. One freelancer living in Lahore is working on Upwork, earning in dollars and productively participating in the digital economy. On the contrary, a person from Southern Punjab or interior Sindh struggles to be part of the same economy as his smartphone fails to load websites due to poor internet connections and speeds. Apparently, both are online, but only one is part of the digital economy. This is the story of every youth living in rural and remote areas that lack basic digital facilities.
At the heart of Pakistan’s digital future lies the central contradiction: the promise of digitalisation sits alongside widening exclusion. In today’s tech-driven world, the digital economy is often considered a great equaliser. It is the territory where skills matter more than geography. The reality is otherwise in Pakistan. The tyranny of geography is making some people excel in global digital markets while locking others out of basic digital participation.
Now the questions are, ‘Why is the process of leaving out happening in the first place?’ Is the exclusion accidental or structurally crafted by a design? Is the idea of equal digital opportunities still a myth in Pakistan?
Misplaced Dream of Digital Pakistan
In the 21st century, where technology rules every aspect of life, it is hard to ignore digitalisation. The good news is Pakistan understands how important it is to be a part of the digital landscape to progress. Government initiatives, private digital bootcamps and freelancing training programmes have played an important role in improving Pakistan’s digitalisation standing. In recent years, optimism about digital progress has grown due to the rise in IT exports and entrepreneurship opportunities.
But here the authorities are overlooking the real issue. They think that providing training and skills would be enough to propel the country into economic progress and digital integration. The truth is misplaced, as it obscures the facts behind digital access. To climb the ladder of success, one has to put a foot on the first step. What will happen if the first step is missing? This is what Pakistan is grappling with: uneven distribution of digital access, shaped by infrastructure, language, education, digital connectivity, and geography.
Infrastructure as Visible Exclusion
In Pakistan, the most evident reason for digital exclusion is the lack of basic infrastructure, including unstable internet connectivity and unequal access to digital devices. In the gig economy, electricity holds significant importance. However, power outages and indefinite loadshedding not only disrupt work but also shrink digital space for freelancers from rural areas. As a result of this structural barrier, internet devices are damaged, deadlines are missed and opportunities are lost.
According to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the cellular subscribers have officially reached 200.55 million in 2025. But a huge difference persists between access and usage. For instance, despite high mobile teledensity (80 per cent), around 54.4 per cent of people remain entirely offline. The reasons could be multitudinous, ranging from poor-quality internet, poor digital literacy and connectivity disruption to high costs of data packages. Shared ownership of the mobile and computer devices also stripped the young people of digital autonomy.
Tyranny of Geography
Geography also tyrannises young people and creates a sharp division between users’ accessibility and participation. Young people belonging to well-established cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad enjoy fast broadband speed, 4G services and fibre-optic connectivity. On the other hand, remote areas in Sindh, Balochistan, AJK and Balochistan even lack basic 3G services, disrupted by poor signal quality and shabby infrastructure. When connectivity is available but on a shallow level, the entire rural youth become passive consumers of digitalisation. They occupy the tip of the funnel and lack the facilities to move forward. They consume content and watch videos but are left behind in leveraging freelancing opportunities that demand internet stability, penetration and access.
Language as a Silent Barrier
When it comes to the digital economy barriers, language is the invisible one. Most of the economy operates heavily in English, leaving no space for local and regional languages. International forays, online courses, client communication and technical and vocational training are also structured around English fluency. On top of that, algorithms also acknowledge English with utmost accuracy, and regional languages take a back seat. Young people from English-medium institutions take advantage of excellence in language and capitalise on career opportunities. Hence, for the majority of Pakistanis, their languages, such as Urdu and provincial ones, act as filters, sifting through who will get access to high-end opportunities.
The gender dimension also complicates digital inequality. Phone ownership among girls and women is extremely low, especially in rural areas. According to THE country’s first-ever digital Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES), compared to 69 per cent of men, only 31 per cent of women own mobile phones. Consequently, girls suffer from socio-economic and digital autonomy challenges.
As a result of these barriers, the digital economy is bifurcating into a rural-urban youth class divide. The difference is distinct, as one class is flourishing in the digital economy and social mobility and the other one is being pushed away, leaving them confined to traditional job markets. The worrisome thing is, the divide is not about motivation, talent, or skills; it’s all about structural differences in infrastructure, education, and opportunity.
Now the most important question is, how do we promote digital inclusion and tackle this division? If the problem lies in structure, the inclusion strategy should require design, not hope. It means one must rethink what inclusion actually requires. What is definitely not required is the abstract promotion of digital skills without any clear roadmap. The government must invest in remote areas and equip them with better digital facilities, including reliable infrastructure, affordable broadband access, local-language digital education ecosystems and community-level access points to work.
Pakistan’s digital economy is in an early stage without any fixed trajectory. The sharp divisions can easily be bridged. In the case of political apathy, the country will pay a heavy price in the form of entrenched inequalities spanning across economic, civic and social areas and a divided digital future. It is also important to ask the right questions. And the question is, will Pakistan let the digital economy be an inequality 2.0, marked by a narrow digital elite, instead of a broad-based workforce?