The previous studies have shown that the defocusing NLSE has no the modulational instability, and was not found to admit the rogue wave phenomenon so far. In this paper, we address the question of the higher-order rogue wave solutions of the nonlocal $\mathscr{P}\mathscr{T}$-symmetric NLSE in the defocusing regime. Based on Darboux transformation and iterations, we derive an explicit solution for the higher-order rogue waves by adopting a variable separation and Taylor expansion technique. The higher-order rogue wave solutions are expressed in separation-of-variables form. Furthermore, in order to understand these solutions better, patterns of the rogue waves for lowest three order are explored clearly and conveniently. The reported results may be useful for the design of experiments for observation of rogue waves in the defocusing nonlinear physical systems.