Pakistan’s textile exports plunges

Pakistan exported $4.127 billion worth of textile products in the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year (2023-24), down 9.95% from the same period last year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

One textile commodity that saw favorable trade growth was raw cotton, whose exports increased from $5.908 million to $6.621 million this year—a 12.08 percent increase.

Similarly, the value of cotton yarn exports rose by 33.50 percent to $315.404 million this year from $236.263 million the previous year, 112.76 percent to $0.213 million from $0.213 million, and 2.89 percent to $244.134 million from $237.280 million last year.

Cotton fabric saw a decrease in exports of 18.15 percent, from $580.524 million to $475.187 million; yarn other than cotton yarn saw a 14.50 percent decrease in exports, from $11.808 million to $10.096 million; and knitwear saw a 15.83 percent decrease in exports, from $1,320.895 million to $1,111.820 million.

Similar drops were seen in the exports of bed linens ($79.704 million to $701.571 million), tents, canvas, and Tarpulin ($29.766 million to $27.312 million), and ready-made clothing ($911.515 million to $809.320 million), which represented an 8.24%, 8.24%, and 10.22% decreases, respectively.

While the exports of all other textile materials fell by 5.25 percent, from $181.657 million to $172.124 million, the exports of art, silk, and synthetic textiles fell by 23.08 percent, from $23.08 percent, from $108.320 million to $83.325 million, and the exports of made-up articles by 5.41 percent, from $180.167 million to $170.422 million.

This is an appropriate time to note that the merchandise trade deficit shrank by 42.25% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

With a negative growth rate of 42.25 percent, the trade deficit for the July–September (2023–24) period was $5.289 billion, compared to the $9.159 billion deficit for the same period in 2022–2023.

Based on the latest PBS statistics, exports fell by 3.78 percent to $6.899 billion during the reviewed period, compared to $7.170 billion during the same time previous year. Conversely, the imports decreased by 25.36% to $12.188 billion from $16.329 billion in the previous year.