ISLAMABAD - The exports of textile commodities witnessed an increase of 17.35 per cent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year and surged by 213 per cent on year-on-year basis (YoY).
The textile exports were recorded at $12692.840 million in July-April (2020-21) against the exports of $10816.276 million in July-April (2019-20), showing growth of 17.35 per cent, according to latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The textile commodities that contributed in trade growth included knitwear, exports of which increased from $2392.064 million last year to $3126.095 million during the current year, showing growth of 30.69 per cent. Likewise, the exports of yarn (other than cotton yarn) increased by 22.42 per cent, from $22.051 million to $26.995 million whereas, exports of bed wear increased by 24.66 per cent from $1838.449 million to $2291.779 million.
The exports of towels increased by 27.18 per cent, from $610.696 million to $776.708 million; exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin grew by 21.86 per cent, from $78.556 million to $95.725 million; readymade garments by 12.56 per cent, from $2231.697 million to $2512.021 million; made-up articles, excluding towels and bed wear by 22.22 per cent, from $513.405 million to $627.479 million while the exports of art, silk and synthetic textile increased from $272.919 to $301.634 million, showing growth of 10.52 per cent.
Meanwhile, the commodities that witnessed negative growth in trade included raw cotton, exports of which decreased by 96.51 per cent, from $17.002 million to $0.593 million; cotton yarn decreased by 4.03 per cent, from $858.580 million to $823.948 million whereas the exports of cotton cloth also decreased by 1.24 per cent, from $1601.650 million to $1581.564 million.
The exports of all other textile materials also increased by 39.24 per cent, from $379.362 million to $528.225 million, the PBS data revealed. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the textile exports increased by 213.17 per cent during the month of April 2021 as compared to the same month of last year.
The exports during April 2021 were recorded at $1,337.385 million against the exports of $403.833 million during April 2020. On month-on-month basis, the exports from the country however witnessed decrease of 3.21 per cent during April 2021 when compared to the exports of $1355.542 million in March 2021.
It is pertinent to mention here that the merchandise exports from the country increased by 13.49 per cent during the first ten months of the current fiscal year.
The exports from the country were recorded at $20.881 billion during July-April (2020-21) against the exports of $18.399 billion in July-April (2019-20).
On the other hand, the merchandise imports into the country also increased by 17.67 per cent by going up from $37.992 billion last year to $44.706 billion during the current year.
Based on the figures, the trade deficit increased by 21.60 per cent by swelling from $19.593 billion last year to $23.825 billion during the current fiscal year.