July trade deficit swells 44.16pc YoY
According to the figures released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), in July FY26 the merchandise exports increased by 17 per cent to $2.7 billion compared to $2.31 billion in July FY25.
However, the import bill of merchandise in July FY26 jumped by 29.25 per cent to $5.45 billion compared to $4.2 billion in the same month of previous year increasing by over $1 billion in just one month.
Pakistan's trade deficit surges 9% YoY to $26.3bn in FY25
On month-on-month basis, exports increased by 8.9 per cent in July FY26 to $2.7 billion compared to $2.48 billion in June FY25.
Whereas, imports remained $5.45 billion in July FY06 compared to $4.85 billion in June FY05 up by 16.02 per cent. It may be mentioned here that according to All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), the textile exports have posted a growth of 33.7 per cent to $1.69 billion in July FY 2025-26 as compared to $ 1.27 billion during the corresponding month of FY 2024-25.
Despite robust growth in the export of textile products, overall growth of 17 per centin exports clearly shows that apart from textile no other exporting sector performed well in July FY26.
The increase in import bill is largely because of increase in oil prices due to escalation of political crisis in the Middle East, especially Iran-Israel war.
According to the PBS, the exports of services in FY25 increased by 9.23 per cent to $8.34 billion compared to $7.69 billion in FY24. Whereas, the import of services increased by two per cent in FY25 to $11 billion compared to $10.8 billion in the same period of FY24. Resultantly, showing a trade deficit of 15.84 per cent.
In June FY25, exports of services up by 12.91 per cent in June on YoY basis to $726.7 million compared to $643.6 million in same period of previous year. Whereas, import of services on MoM basis, declined by 24.10 per cent to $851.6 million in June FY25, compared to $1.12 billion in the same period of the previous year.
On MoM basis, export of services declined by 0.44 per cent $726 million June compared to $729 million in May. Whereas, import of services also reduced by 2.15 per cent to $851.6 million in June compared to $870.3 million in May.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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Iqbal officially launched the results of the 7th Agricultural Census 2024 which, he said, was a landmark in Pakistan's statistical history covering Agriculture, Livestock, and Farm Machinery in one report. The details showed that 97% of the country's total farming community owns less than 12.5 acres of land and suggests that they fall in the low middle to middle income groups. Such small landholdings do not generate enough resources to save money and these poor farmers live crop to crop. In 2010, 89% farmers had less than 12.5 acres of land. A major reason was the division of inherited land and selling the properties to meet some major expenses, according to people who have conducted the census. There were 26% farmers who owned even less than one acre of land, a ratio that was just 15% in 2010. About 35% of the total farmers owned less than 2.5 acres of land. 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But he said that overall the results of the census were encouraging and would also positively contribute to the Gross Domestic Product of the country because of the possibility to actually measure the outcomes instead of relying on outdated surveys. Iqbal said that the findings of the census would help in better planning for lifting the small farmers of the country. According to the census, there was a significant increase in the cultivated area, which increased to 52.8 million compared to 42.6 million at the time of the last census. Overall, agriculture remains a key sector of Pakistan's economy, contributing significantly to GDP. Approximately the livelihood of 40 million people is directly linked with agriculture and 37.4% of the Labour Force employed by the sector. The census showed that there were about 20 million agricultural households, and 98.5% were male heads. 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Punjab has the largest irrigated area with 27.1 million acres in total, followed by Sindh with 7.3 million acres. Although in KP and Balochistan areas are irrigated by canal, other sources are also used. Interestingly, traditional methods like Rod Kohi and Karez are still functional in Balochistan, according to the census. Non-irrigated (rain-fed) farming saw a sharp decline to 4.9 million acres in 2024, from 8.4 million in 2010, reflecting a shift toward irrigated agriculture nationwide. Cropped area Pakistan's total cropped area increased significantly from 68 million acres in 2010 to 82.8 million acre in census 2024, showing a growing confidence in the agriculture sector. The cropped area is more than the 52.8 million total cultivated land because one piece of land can be used multiple times in a year depending upon the crop cycle. Among all major crops, the share of wheat cropped area remained the dominant crop share in the country, with its contribution rising slightly from 42% to 43.3% in overall Pakistan. Cropping area of rice has seen a slight decline from 14% to 12.9%, while maize increased from 4% to 5.1%. The cotton share dropped sharply from 14% to 7.9%. Sugarcane share in cropped areas has also declined from 4% to 3.3%. The fodder crop's share slightly increased from 9% to 9.5%. The chief statistician PBS Dr Naeem uz Zafar explained that livestock has the single largest share of 63.6% in the total agriculture sector, followed by 32.6% share of crops. Livestock In 2024, Pakistan's overall livestock population reached 251.3 million, which was significantly higher than the last census of 2006. The chief statistician said that the livestock sector showed an annual growth rate of 3.1% in 2024. Punjab holds the largest share with 104 million animals, leading in cattle, buffaloes, horses and donkeys population in Pakistan. Balochistan province has 47.9 million total animals out of that 18.8 million were sheep, which is in line with the harsh conditions like scarcity of water. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa reported a total 48.7 million animals' population with 22.5 million highest numbers of goats.
