Pakistan’s Exports Crosses $2bn Mark , For 4th Time in a Row

Pakistan’s exports have crossed the $US 2bn mark, for the fourth time in a row, according to monthly export data provided by the Pakitan Bureau of Statistics(PBS).

A consultative meeting was held to review the provisional (pre-PBS) trade data till January 2021 by the Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment, Abdul Razaq Dawood, via video link. In the meeting, he was briefed that Pakistan’s exports have recorded an 8% increase in January 2021 and have reached to mark of 2.13 $US billion as compared to the 1.97 $US billion in January 2020. It was For the first time in the last 8 years that Pakistan exports have remained above $US2 billion for four consecutive months. The comparison of monthly exports of Pakistan for the period of October to December validates that Pakistan’s exports are showing persistent growth.

What were the Trends on the product basis During January 2021?

He was briefed that in January 2021, an increasing trend has been witnessed in the export of value-added and non-traditional products.

• The exports of Jerseys & Cardigans increased by 72%, pharmaceuticals by 55%, T-shirts by 43%, plastics by 24%, women’s garments by 21%, home textiles by 19%, textile made-up by 11%, men’s garments by 8% and rice by 7% as compared to January 2020.

He was also informed that a decreasing trend was noted in the export of mostly non-value-added products

• The exports of maize decreased by 82%, raw leather by 23%, cotton yarn by 11%, cotton fabric by 14%, and meat by 5% as compared to January 2020.

The meeting was informed that geographically, in January 2021 Pakistan’s exports increased to Canada (43%), Australia (42%), the United States (36%), South Africa (27%), China (21%), the United Kingdom (21%), Belgium (18%), and Saudi Arabia (14%).

While there was a decrease in exports to Jordan (-68%), Senegal (-59%), Italy (-24%), Turkey (-21%), Bangladesh, and the United Arab Emirates (-19% each)

What were the Trends From July to January 2021?

The seven-months’ performance of exports was also discussed in the meeting. The Advisor was informed that the provisional (pre-PBS) export data for the period July-January 2020-21 showed that the exports increased by 5.5 percent, to $US 14.2 billion compared to $US 13.5 billion during the same period last year.

• During July-January 2020-21, the exports of value-added and non-traditional products increased especially for tents & canvas (49%), Jerseys & Cardigans (37%), pharmaceuticals (28%), cutlery (27%), socks & stockings (26%), women’s garments (22%), home textiles (17%) and textile made-ups (9%) as compared to the same period last year.
• He was informed that as compared to the same period in the previous year, during July-January 2020-21, Pakistan’s exports decrease was observed in mostly non-value-added products, such as cotton (-96%), maize (-49%), raw leather (-30%), cotton yarn (-24%) and cotton fabric (-9%).
• Dawood was informed that on the basis of export growth, Pakistan’s top markets for a 7-months’ period are Indonesia (43%), Australia (22%), the United States (21%), the United Kingdom (21%), Poland (14%), Germany (12%), the Netherlands (11%) and China (9%).
• He was further informed that compared to the last year, the markets showing declining exports during July-January 2020-21 were Thailand (-43%), Malaysia (-24%), Sri Lanka (-23%), the United Arab Emirates (-21%), Bangladesh (-18%), Italy (-7%) and Spain (-5%).

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