Pakistan’s trade balance has deteriorated during the first half of the current fiscal year, with a sharp decline in exports and a big increase in imports, according to official documents of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Cumulatively, during the 1HFY26, the trade deficit increased by 34.6 percent YoY to $19.2 billion. Exports registered a decline of 8.7 percent during this period, while imports increased by 11.28 percent.
During the first half of the current fiscal year, Pakistan’s total exports stood at over $15.18 billion, compared to more than $16.63 billion in exports recorded in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
On the import side, Pakistan recorded imports worth over $34.38 billion in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year, significantly higher than over $30.90 billion in imports during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
The documents further reveal a sharp year-on-year decline in monthly trade performance. In December of the current fiscal year, exports fell by 20 percent compared to December of the previous year. Meanwhile, imports recorded a 2 percent increase in December on a year-on-year basis.