Trade deficit widens amid July surge in exports, imports

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani exports and imports went up by double digits in July 2024, registering a major increase as compared to the previous month, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data said.

Exports rose by 11.83 in the first month of the current fiscal, while the month-on-month drop was 9.77 percent.

PBS data showed that imports also witnessed a substantial decrease of 14.27 percent compared to the previous month while 15.3 percent increase compared to the same month a year ago.

The trade bulletin for July 2024 revealed that goods exports amounted to $2.308 billion, down from $2.558 billion in June 2024, while increased from $2.064 billion in July 2023. Meanwhile, goods imports in July 2024 were valued at $4.256 billion, down from $4.964 billion in June 2024, however were up from $3.69 billion in July 2023.

The trade deficit during the month under review increased by 19.7 percent to $1.948 billion compared to $1.627 billion in July 2023. In June 2024, the trade gap was $2.41 billion.

In last fiscal year 2023-24, the country’s trade deficit decreased by 12.3 per cent, dropping to $24.09 billion from $27.47 billion in FY23. During July 2023-June 2024, total exports, however, saw an increase of 10.54 per cent, reaching $30.645 billion, while imports shrank by 0.84 per cent, amounting to $54.73 billion.

Trade in Services

The PBS also reported the services trade performance data for July-June 2023-24. According to the trade statistics for international services during this period, local companies imported more services than they exported.

The trade deficit in services witnessed a remarkable increase of 121.76, reaching $2.313 billion in FY24 compared to $1.04 billion in FY23.

In FY24, the economy hired the services of foreign companies for $10.12 billion and exported services abroad for $7.81 billion.

In FY23, the country’s services exports were recorded at $7.6 billion, and imports stood at $8.64 billion, representing an increase of 2.77 percent in services exports and a 17.14 percent increase in imports.

In June 2024, services exports were valued at $640 million, while imports amounted to $12.06 billion, resulting in a deficit of $415 million. In May 2024, exports were recorded at $695.7 million, imports at $860 million, and the deficit at $164.3 million.

During the month under review, services exports decreased by 8.0 percent and imports increased by 22.67 percent compared to the previous month. Comparing June 2024’s services to the trade performance of the same month the previous year, exports were up by 8.2 percent, and imports increased by 41.4 percent.

In June 2023, services exports amounted to $591.3 million, and imports reached $746 million, resulting in a deficit of $154.7 million.