Food exports surge by 26.68% to $1,947m in five months

• Food group exports during Jul-Nov FY22 clock in at $1947.4m.
• Rice exports grow by 13.07%.
• Exports of fruits increase by 27.69% from $138.85m to $177.31m.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's food exports surged by 26.68% during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

According to the data collection bureau, the food group exports during July-November were clocked in at $1,947.4 million compared to $1,537.317 million in the same period of the fiscal year 2020-21, according to PBS data.

The commodities that contributed to the positive growth of food group trade included rice as its exports grew by 13.07%, from $730.703 million in FY21 to $826.216 million during the current fiscal year.

Among the rice commodities, exports of Basmati rice increased by 32.99% from $196.534 million to $261.364 million while other rice commodities surged by 5.74%, from $534.169 million to $564.852 million.

Likewise, exports of fruits increased by 27.69% from $138.859 million to $177.316 million, vegetables by 31.47% from $77.146 million to $101.423 million, tobacco by 26.96% from $12.744 million to $16.180 million whereas the exports of spices went up by 29.63%, from $31.357 million to $40.648 million.

The exports of oilseeds, nuts and kernels also went up 478.77% from $22.476 million to $130.085 million whereas the exports of meat and meat preparations increased by 0.10% from $133.575 million to $133.714 million and other food items by 65.95%, from $223.755 million to $371.330 million.

The only food product that recorded a decline was fish and fish preparations, the exports of which receded by 9.72% from $166.702 million in FY21 to $150.502 million in FY22.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the food exports increased by 26.44% from $407.079 million in November 2020 to $514.697 million in November 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country recorded a growth of 24.61% in November compared to the exports of $413.036 million in October 2021.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall exports from the country witnessed an increase of 26.89% during the first five months of the current fiscal year 2021-22 as compared to the corresponding months of last year.

According to PBS data, the exports from the country were recorded at $12.364 billion during July-November against the exports of $9.744 billion recorded during July-November 2020-21, recording a growth of 26.89%.

The imports during the months under review also went up by 69.57% by growing from $19.468 billion last year to $33.012 billion in July-November.

Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $20.648 billion, showing an increase of 112.34% over the deficit of $9.724 billion recorded during July-November.