Pakistan’s export market takes a hit: Textile group exports down 14.83% in January

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s textile group exports declined by approximately 8.17 per cent during the first seven months (July-January) of fiscal year 2022-23, totaling $10.039 billion as compared to $10.933 billion during the same period of the previous year.

The data also showed that textile group exports witnessed a year-on-year decline of 14.83 per cent in January 2023, amounting to $1.321 billion, compared to $1.551 billion during the same month in the previous year. Additionally, on a month-on-month basis, the textile group registered a negative growth of 2.53 per cent compared to $1.356 billion in December 2022.

Cotton yarn exports experienced a negative growth of 34.66 per cent during July-January, totaling $449.419 million compared to $687.857 million during the same period in the previous year. On a year-on-year basis, cotton yarn exports registered a negative growth of 12.34 per cent, while on a month-on-month basis, it registered a growth of 27.22 per cent.

Rice exports declined by 15.82 per cent during the first seven months of fiscal year 2022-23, totaling $1.083 billion compared to $1.286 billion during the same period in the previous fiscal year. Overall, the country’s exports during July-January 2022-23 totaled $16.499 billion (provisional) compared to $17.739 billion during the corresponding period of the previous year, showing a decrease of 6.99 per cent.

In January 2023, the country’s exports amounted to $2.244 billion (provisional) compared to $2.313 billion in December 2022, reflecting a decrease of 2.98 per cent and a decline of 14.15 per cent compared to $2.614 billion in January 2022. The primary commodities of exports during January 2023 were knitwear, readymade garments, bed wear, cotton cloth, rice others, towels, cotton yarn, made-up articles (excluding towels and bedwear), rice basmati, and surgical goods and medical instruments.