Pakistan sees 20-month streak in food export growth, hits $5.75bn
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Pakistan's food exports rose by 1.62 percent to reach $5.75 billion during the first nine months of fiscal year 2024–25 (July–March), up from $5.66 billion a year earlier, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The growth comes despite persistent food inflation in the domestic market, with rice and sugar exports leading the rise. Pakistan has now recorded 20 consecutive months of food export growth.
Among key contributors, basmati rice exports saw an 8.78 percent increase in value to $676.96 million, alongside a 21.78 percent increase in volume to 663,980 tonnes.
By contrast, non-basmati rice exports declined 9.87 percent in value to $2.08 billion, despite a marginal 0.14 percent increase in quantity to 4.02 million tonnes. Overall rice exports dropped 5.91 percent, totaling $2.76 billion in value.
Sugar exports saw an exceptional jump. Initially capped at 150,000 tonnes under a June 2024 export policy, total sugar exports reached 757,779 tonnes by March, according to PBS figures.
The largest volumes were exported in December (279,273 tonnes) and November (166,283 tonnes), though no exports were reported in March.
Meat exports rose 0.99 percent, supported by new market access and expansion of slaughterhouse capacity. Fish and seafood exports increased 8.15 percent, while fruit exports fell 5.04 percent and vegetable exports dropped 17.09 percent due to supply constraints.
The rise in rice exports was supported by demand from traditional markets like the European Union and the UK, along with new buyers in Bangladesh.
However, the domestic price of basmati rice rose sharply to Rs 400 per kg, limiting local consumption.
Despite mixed trends across categories, officials view the overall export performance as resilient under inflationary pressure and tight global market conditions.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended Pakistan's textile sector for achieving a record $13.613 billion (approxiamately Rs3,793 billion) in exports during the first nine months of the current fiscal year — a 9.38% increase compared to the same period last year.
According to data from the PBS, this growth underscores the textile industry's resilience and its continued role as the backbone of the country's export economy.
The Prime Minister praised both the government's economic policies and the private sector's tireless efforts in driving this progress.
March 2025 alone recorded $2.64 billion (approx. Rs737 billion) in overall exports — a monthly and yearly increase.
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