During the initial five months of the current financial year, Pakistan’s textile sector demonstrated both positive and negative trends in export performance. According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country exported textile products worth $6,883.615 million, indicating a 6.50 percent decline compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year when exports amounted to $7,361,914 million.
Several key textile commodities experienced positive growth in trade. Raw cotton, for instance, witnessed an impressive surge in exports, soaring by 253.10 percent from $11.253 million to $39.733 million. Similarly, cotton yarn exports increased by 50.30 percent, reaching $493.277 million compared to $328.197 million the previous year. Other commodities, such as cotton carded or combed and towels, also demonstrated growth, albeit on a smaller scale.
Conversely, certain textile categories faced declines in exports. Cotton cloth exports dropped by 13.35 percent, decreasing from $903.685 million to $783.087 million. Yarn other than cotton yarn, knitwear, bed wear, tents, canvas, and tarpaulin, as well as ready-made garments, experienced negative growth. These contractions ranged from 5.62 percent for bed wear to 13.11 percent for knitwear.
Art, silk, and synthetic textile exports saw a substantial decline of 18.55 percent, falling from $179.327 million to $146.068 million. Made-up articles and other textile materials also recorded decreases of 4.72 percent and 4.23 percent, respectively.
On a year-on-year basis, textile exports registered a decline of 7.21 percent, dropping from $1,420.921 million in November 2022 to $1,318.536 million in November 2023. Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, exports decreased by 8.26 percent when compared to the previous month, reaching $107.009 million in October 2023.
Despite the challenges faced by the textile sector, there is a silver lining in the broader trade scenario. The country’s overall merchandise trade deficit contracted significantly by 33.59 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period last year. The trade deficit from July to November (2023-24) was recorded at $9.378 billion, showcasing a notable reduction from the deficit of $14.122 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
This contraction in the trade deficit can be attributed to a combination of factors, including an increase in exports by 1.93 percent to $12.172 billion and a significant decrease in imports by 17.32 percent, which were recorded at $21.550 billion compared to $26.064 billion in the previous year. The data suggests a positive overall trade balance, reflecting efforts to stabilize the country’s external trade dynamics and enhance its economic resilience.
