KARACHI: Despite a significant increase in the number of people wishing to travel abroad from Pakistan, 121,418 fewer passports were issued in 2024 than in 2023. The number of citizens applying for e-passports also increased significantly in 2024.
Director General (DG) Passports Mustafa Jamal Qazi told this correspondent that 6,596,520 Pakistanis issued their passports during 2024 as against 6,717,938 in 2023.
47,645,523,500 rupees were deposited in the national exchequer in 2024 through passport fee. According to DG Passport, 715,074 overseas Pakistanis obtained passports in 2024, while 5,206,234 passports were issued to citizens residing in the country.
In 2024, a total of 252,141 passports were processed online and 257,398 e-passports were generated.
According to data provided by the DG Passport, women topped the list of passport holders with 9,659,312 receiving their passports in 2024.
Meanwhile, 1,768,341 men and 523 transgender women have also obtained Pakistani passports across the country.
In 2024, a total of 3,056,427 new passports were processed while 2,541,170 passports were renewed.
The DG said that during 2024 citizens faced delay in obtaining passports due to various reasons, but now the situation has improved and citizens have obtained passports within the stipulated period.