Despite a marginal expansion, Pakistan’s trade deficit showed resilience, reaching $5.4 billion during the first three months of fiscal year 2024-25, as per the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). This represents a 4.2% increase compared to the same period in the previous year, where the trade balance recorded a deficit of $5.21 billion. The widening gap between exports and imports, while indicating a challenging economic scenario, also underscores the economy’s ability to adapt and endure.

During the mentioned period, Pakistan’s exports demonstrated a promising growth, increasing by 14% to $7.88 billion, up from $6.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. This significant rise in exports, coupled with a nearly 10% surge in imports to $13.31 billion, indicates a potential for further growth and development in Pakistan’s trade sector.

The monthly figures show a significant 20.35% year-on-year increase in the trade deficit to $1.78 billion in September 2024 from $1.48 billion in the same period of 2024. The rise in imports and exports contributed to this surge, with exports increasing by 13.52% to $2.81 billion and imports rising by 16% to $4.59 billion compared to the same month last year.

Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit also saw a marginal increase of 1.9% to $1.78 billion in September 2024 compared to $1.75 billion in August 2024. Exports for September 2024 increased by 1.6% to $2.81 billion from the preceding month, while imports inched up by 1.7% to $4.59 billion.