ISLAMABAD   -  Tea imports into the country during the first 7 months of the current financial year grew by 7.58 percent as compared to the imports of the corresponding period of last year. During the period from July-January, 2023-24 over 161.823 metric tonnes of tea valued at $391.408 million were imported as compared to the imports of 145,700 metric tonnes costing $368.820 million of the same period of last year, according to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

On month on monthly basis, tea imports into the country grew by 22.13 percent as 22,072 metric tonnes of tea valued at $54.985 million were imported during January 2024 as compared to the imports of 17,622 metric tonnes worth $45.022 million in the corresponding month of last year. However, the imports of edible oil in­cluding soybean and palm into the coun­try during the period under review went down by 49.85 percent and 34.14 percent respectively, it added. Over 91,950 metric tonnes of soyabean oil valued at $99.990 million were imported as compared to the imports of 136,870 metric tonnes costing $199.386 million in the same period of last year, whereas 1.735 million tonnes of palm oil worth $1.611 billion were imported as compared the imports of 1.927 metric tonnes valued at $2.446 billion of the same period of the last year, it added.

Meanwhile, the sugar imports into the country also decreased by 42.75 percent as about 2,260 metric tonnes of sugar valued at $2.10 million were imported as com­pared to the imports of 4,332 metric tons worth $3.67 million in the same period of last year. It is worth mentioning here that during the period under review, food group exports from the country grew by 57.66 percent as different food commodities valued at $4.267 billion were exported as compared to the exports of $2.706 million in the same period of last year. On the other hand, food group imports into the country during the first 7 months of the current fi­nancial year decreased by 21.09 percent as food imports came down from $5.983 bil­lion in the first 8 months of the last finan­cial year to $4.721 billion during the same period of the current financial year.