October's Trade Deficit Shrinks by 34.7% while Exports Increase by 13%

According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the nation's merchandise trade deficit decreased by 34.70% in the first four months of the current fiscal year when compared to the same time the previous year.

The trade deficit from July to October of 2023–24 was $7.416 billion, indicating a negative growth of 34.70%, compared to the deficit of $11.356 billion in July–October of 2022–2023. According to the most recent PBS data, exports climbed by 0.66 percent to $9.617 billion during the period under review compared to exports of $9.554 billion during the similar period previous year.

However, compared to $20.910 billion in the previous year, imports decreased by 18.54 percent to $17.033 billion. In the meantime, October exports from the nation rose 13.55 percent year over year when compared to October exports in the previous year. In comparison to October 2022's $2.384 billion in exports, the month's exports were $2.707 billion.

However, the data shows that, in contrast to the $4.581 billion in October 2022, the imports in October 2023 totaled $4.806 billion, indicating a 4.91 percent rise.

When comparing the country's exports to the $2.476 billion exported in September 2023, the month-over-month growth in exports was 9.33%.

As compared to the $3.994 billion in imports in September 2023, the country's imports increased by 20.33 percent, according to PBS.