Pakistan’s exports fell by 15.4% to 2.2 billion in January 2023 from $2.61 billion in the same month the previous year due to economic and political unrest.
Compared to the same month last year, the total number of exports was down 3 points 25 percent in October, 17 points 6 percent in November, 16 points 3 percent in December, and now 15 points 4 percent in January.
The nation’s trade deficit did, however, decrease by 32% to $19.63 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year as a result of restrictions on the import of non-essentials and other goods. It affected the faltering economy, though, nonetheless.
The import-export gap for the same period last year was $28.86 billion, according to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
From July to January, exports decreased by 7 points 2 percent to $16 point 47 billion from $17 point 74 billion in the same month the previous year. Similarly, imports decreased 22.5% to $36.1 billion from $46.6 billion between July 2021 and January 2022.
Exports fell by 15 points 4 percent to $2 point 2 billion in January 2023 from $2 point 61 billion in the same month the previous year, while imports fell by 19 points 6 percent to $4 point 85 6 billion from $6 point 036 billion. As a result, in comparison to the same month last year, the trade deficit decreased by 221.7 percent, from $3.42 billion to $2.65 billion.
In January 2023, goods exports decreased by 4 points 4 percent from $2 point 31 billion compared to December the previous year. Similarly, imports decreased by 5 points 8% from their $5 point 15 billion high in December.
A quick scan of the trade data reveals that, over the past seven months, the average monthly exports were $2.35 billion, down from the average of $2.53 billion last year. Compared to $6.66 billion in FY22, the average monthly imports were $5.157 billion in 2017.
With imports of $80.18 billion (an average of $6.68 billion/month) and exports of $31.8 billion (an average of $2.65 million/month), the trade deficit in FY22 was a record-high $48.38 billion.
Exports in FY2021 were $25.3 billion, compared to imports of $56.4 billion. Imports rose by 42.2 percent while exports rose by 25.6%. Compared to FY21, the trade deficit in FY22 increased by 31%.
