Exports to US, China flat at $7.2bn in 11 months

KARACHI: Pakistan's exports to the United States of America (USA) and China, two of its largest markets, stagnated during the first eleven months of this financial year (11MFY24), which analysts pinned on its traditional overreliance on conventional goods and the prevailing product development vacuum.

Despite being the top export market for Pakistani goods, exports to the USA were flat at $4.83 billion in the first eleven months of this fiscal, up only 0.6 per cent from $4.80 billion in the same time last year, official data showed.

China followed with imports of $2.4 billion, while the United Kingdom fell to third place with $1.8 billion during the July-May period.

During this period, the United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, and Spain were also leading export markets for Pakistani goods, with exports to each of these countries exceeding the $1 billion mark.

Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Indonesia and Belgium each imported over $500 million in goods from Pakistan. The exports from the country witnessed an increase of 10.65 per cent during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year (2023-24), compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports during July-April FY24 were recorded at $28 billion, against $25.3 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

The exports rose year-on-year by 27 per cent in May this fiscal to $2.7 billion compared to $2.1 billion in the same month of last financial year.

Textile exports totalled $16.1 billion in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year and remained the top export commodity from Pakistan. Exports of bedlinen, table linen, toilet linen and kitchen linen of all types of textile materials topped the category of textile goods, totalling $3.5 billion in the first eleven months of this fiscal compared to $4.2 billion in the same months of the last year.

The country exported $7.4 billion worth of agriculture and food products in the months under review. In this category, rice exports stood at $3.6 billion compared to $2 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal, showing 77 per cent growth. The country exported other manufacturing products of almost $2.1 billion to these markets.

In terms of regional markets, Asia topped the list as the country exported over $10.2 billion worth of exports to countries in Asia in the first eleven months of this fiscal year, whereas the European market came in second, importing $9.4 billion in Pakistani goods.

The Americas (South and North) imported over $5.7 billion and the African region $2.1 billion in Pakistani goods. The Oceania market imported $97 million from Pakistan in the first ten months of this fiscal year.

Oceania is a region comprising thousands of islands in the Central and South Pacific, including Australia, the smallest continent in terms of total land area.