The State of Coworking in Pakistan
Pakistan doesn't yet have a reliable, published figure for the size of its coworking market — so instead of inventing one, this page tells the demand story through numbers that are verified and sourced: a booming IT-export and freelance economy, tens of thousands of registered tech firms, deepening connectivity, and a young workforce. Every figure below links to its source.
A booming digital economy
The demand engine for flexible workspace.
Pakistan's technology and freelance sectors are growing fast, and both are concentrated in the same three cities where flexible workspace clusters — Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. Record IT exports and freelancer earnings translate directly into teams and individuals who need professional places to work.
$4.6B
Pakistan's IT & ITeS exports, an all-time high (FY2025-26, +20% YoY)
Source: State Bank of Pakistan (via ProPakistani) (2026)
$1.76B
Freelancer foreign-exchange earnings in a single year (FY2025-26, +78%)
Source: SBP data (via Profit / Pakistan Today) (2026)
2.37M
Registered freelancers — one of the world's largest freelance markets
Source: SBP / PSEB (via Profit) (2026)
~30,000
Registered IT & ITeS companies, hubbed in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad
Source: Economic Survey 2024-25 (via Mettis) (2025)
Connectivity is now mainstream
Remote and hybrid work has the infrastructure to grow.
200M
Total telecom (cellular) subscribers — a national milestone
Source: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) (2025)
116M
Internet users — 45.7% of the population (Jan 2025)
Source: DataReportal / Kepios, Digital 2025: Pakistan (2025)
A young workforce and a recovering startup scene
More teams forming, more desks needed.
Startup funding reset after the 2022 peak but is climbing again, and different trackers measure it differently — so we show both, rather than pick the flattering number. A large, young labour force keeps forming the small teams that flexible offices are built for.
$36.6M
Disclosed startup equity funding in 2025 (up from $22.5M in 2024)
Source: Data Darbar (via TechJuice) (2025)
$74.2M
Startup funding on a hybrid (equity + debt) basis, 2025
Source: Invest2Innovate / i2i (via Business Recorder) (2025)
Where The Hive fits in
Built for exactly this demand.
The Hive has grown alongside this shift — from its first hub in Islamabad in 2016 to nine managed workspaces across Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad today, the same cities where Pakistan's IT firms and freelancers are concentrated. That's coworking, private offices, meeting rooms, and event spaces on flexible, all-inclusive terms.
A note on the data
Figures are drawn from primary and reputable secondary sources — the State Bank of Pakistan, PTA, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the Economic Survey 2024-25, DataReportal, Data Darbar, and i2i — each linked above with its year. We have deliberately left out widely circulated but unsourced numbers (including a "coworking market size" figure that traces back to global, not Pakistan-specific, data). Where two credible methodologies disagree, we show both. Last updated July 2026.
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