Pakistan’s exports slumped for the fourth consecutive month in December 2022 to $2.304 billion, dropping 3.64 percent compared to the exports of $2.391 billion in November 2022, official data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Tuesday.
The imports also decreased by 0.41 percent in December 2022 compared to the imports of $5.182 billion in November 2022, according to the data.
The trade deficit widened by 2.36 percent on a month-on-month basis and stood at $2.857 billion in December 2022 compared to $2.791 billion in November 2022.
The country’s trade deficit narrowed by 32.65 percent to $17.133 billion during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year as compared to $25.438 billion during the same period of last year.
The exports during July-December 2022-23 were recorded at $14.249 billion against the exports of $15.125 billion in July-December of 2021-22, showing a decline of 5.79 percent, according to the trade data.
The imports decreased by 22.63 percent during the period under review, going down from $40.563 billion last year to $31.382 billion during the current fiscal year.
On a year-on-year basis, the exports witnessed a decline of 16.64 percent and stood at $2.304 billion in December 2022 against the exports of $2.764 billion in December 2021.
The imports also decreased to $5.161 billion in December 2022 from $7.580 billion in December 2021, showing negative growth of 31.91 percent. The trade deficit narrowed by 40.68 percent on a year-on-year basis to $2.857 billion in December 2022 compared to $4.816 billion in December 2021.
