Pakistan imported 2.094 million metric tons of wheat during the first eight months of the current fiscal year to meet the rising domestic requirement due to high population growth.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country has imported 2.094 million metric tons of unmilled wheat worth $752 million during July-February 2021-22. Comparatively, Pakistan had imported 3.383 million metric tons of wheat with a value of $916 million during the first eight months of the last fiscal year 2020-21.
The country imported 327,783 metric tons of wheat worth $124 million during February 2022 to meet the domestic requirement. Although the import of wheat is less than last year, it is a matter of great concern that Pakistan has been depending on the import of wheat to meet the domestic needs for a couple of years.
The official figures show that the country has imported almost 5.7 million tons of wheat worth $1.1 billion to meet the domestic requirement during the last 20 months. Before that, Pakistan had surplus wheat and was also exporting it.
Although Pakistan produced a record wheat crop of 27 million tons in 2021-22, it was insufficient to meet the country’s domestic consumption requirements and to maintain strategic reserves due to high population growth in the country. Pakistan’s annual population is growing by almost two percent which is considered one of the highest in the world.
Overall import bill of food commodities has surged by 20 percent to $6.426 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of the last fiscal year. The hike in the prices of spices, soybean, and palm oil in the international market were the main factors for increasing the import bill of food group, the data shows.
Despite the decrease in the number of products, the import bill of soyabean oil swelled by 69 percent to $82 million from $48 million, palm oil by 54 percent to $2.438 billion from $ 1.585 billion, and sugar by 50 percent to $190 million from $127 million during the eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of the last fiscal year.
The country also imported 106,937 metric tons of spices worth $158 million during the eight months of the current fiscal year, 14 percent higher than the same period of the last fiscal year. Pakistan also imported 177,671 metric tons of tea worth $423 million during the eight months of the current fiscal.
