Tea imports increase 17pc in 8 months

ISLAMABAD: The tea imports witnessed an increase of 16.94 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The tea imports during July-February (2020-21) stood at $379.312 million against the imports of $324.371 million during July-February (2019-20), according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the tea imports into the country increased by 27.39 percent during the period under review as these grew from 134,604 metric tons to 171.470 metric tons, the data revealed.

The overall food imports increased by 50.29 percent from $3556.365 million last year to $5344.802 million during the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the tea imports decreased by 12.32 percent during the month of February 2021 as compared to the same month of last year. The tea imports during February 2021 were recorded at $43.172 million against the imports of $49.237 million in February 2020.

On month-on-month basis, the tea imports into the country decreased by 14.06 percent in February 2021 as compared to the imports of $50.233 million in January 2020, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that overall merchandize imports into the country during first three quarters of the current fiscal year increased by 13.57 percent by growing from $34.791 billion in July-March (2019-20) to $39.512 billion during July-March (2019-20).

The exports from the country also increased by 7.12 percent and were recorded at $18.685 billion against the exports of $17.443 billion last year.

Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 20.05 percent during the first three quarters as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $20.827 billion against the deficit of $17.348 billion last year.