Buying and selling domain names is a business similar to any other real estate business. Domain names are your virtual assets that gain values over time. The majority of people in Pakistan, even big whales, are not aware of the domain market’s potential and the availability. However, this is a good time for any ordinary person who can afford to pay around one thousand rupees a year can hold a domain investment for future returns.
Just imagine buying a piece of land in 1995. 120 square yard plot in Gulistan-e-Johar won’t cost you more than a few thousand rupees to a couple of lac or probably a little more. But in today’s market, the same location will start from five to ten million or up, and the trend is continuing to go up even considering everything we think of negative. This is all about supply and demand and nothing more. Real estate and property values have gone up because everyone wants to buy it, some for investment, and others want to live there or put it on rent due to the high cost of purchasing limit. Or we can also say that real estate cost is going upwards due to fewer people are selling and more people are willing to buy. But in 1995, the area around the drive-in cinema, which is the vicinity of Gulshan-e-Johar, was almost empty, like a desert, except some big residential complexes or flats were around. There were plenty of empty lands available, but due to the lack of security or probably other concerns, perhaps not many people were into the real estate business or the population rising.
The situation is no different for acquiring domain names. The market seems to be picking up in this sector as well. Just 10 years ago, only a handful of people knew how to register a .pk domain, and whoever could mostly be like an expert in the computing field. You could basically grab your hand on almost any domain you may have desired.
Here’s a good article from a guy named Irfan, who did a good article on .pk domain extensions back in 2011.
However, if I see the stats that I’ve taken from his work on the PK domain statistics, it shows how much the domain’s growth has evolved. From 1996, we had only 15 domains registered under .com.pk/.pk, and then in 15 years, the picture was 4,704. However, I don’t have the stats between 2011 to 2021, but we can evaluate the latest numbers for 2021. Can you guess how many domain registrations we have in another 10 years?
In the year 2021, 97,745 domains have been registered under .pk extensions as per domainstools research. I’ve taken all the neighboring countries plus USA for our comparison, the ccTLD extensions. And it seems to be the China is a clear winner among all the other countries around the world. However, in term of neighbors across Pakistan, Afghanistan is way under and perhaps the shape looks more like Pakistan in 2008 or 2009.
CN: China: 10,214,503
US: USA: 1,687,039
IN: India: 2,450,105
IR: Iran: 1,126,678
PK: Pakistan: 97,745
AF: Afghanistan: 6,283
I can imagine that thousands and thousands, if not millions, of domains are still waiting to be registered under .PK. I can also imagine the obvious reason why they are not registered yet. But as it seems that time is about to be approaching soon.
Suppose you note that Iran has only 93 million people in the country. Regardless of all the economic disadvantages from powerhouses, the number of domain holding is much more strong, about 1100% stronger or 11 times more domains than Pakistani domains. That’s amazing, but the more amazing part is that we still have many advantages as the Pakistani population is 220 million, more than twice the size of Iran, and many more domains, about 90% more great domains that can still be registered.
There are lots of innovations about to happen in Pakistan with all the startups getting lined up due to all the open-door policies and the Pakistani government realizing the potential of Information Technology. The doors seem to be opening, either due to luck or political situations, but whatever the odds are, they look good for Pakistan so far. Pakistan seems to be propelled in the right direction, and hopefully, the number of domains and websites will go up.
In the end, all I want to say is to grab your domain name as soon as you can before it’s too late. You might not be able to launch your idea now, or perhaps you can grab a few to hold to resell in the future. This is basically the right moment to make a difference. Probably, also come back and check the numbers rising for the next year or keep your watchful eye and see where it goes. I’m optimistic about technology, and it has made a huge difference in each country and the world we live in. The registrations of the domains will only go up as long as Pakistan’s government keeps the fair playground for innovation by the people of Pakistan and people of Pakistan around the world.
