Fruit exports grow by 4pc in 11 months

ISLAMABAD: The export of fruits from the country witnessed an increase of 4.34 percent during the first 11 months of fiscal year (2018-19) against the exports of the corresponding period of last year.

The fruit exports from the country were recorded at $ 393.945 million during July-May (2018-19) against the exports of $377.558 million during July-May (2017-18), showing a growth of 4.34 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.

In terms of quantity, the export of the fruits witnessed an increase of 9.88 percent from 672.371 metric tons to738.806  metric tons, according to the data.

On the other hand, the vegetables exports from the country, however declined by 3.37 percent by going down from $228.894 million last year to $221.180 million during the period under review.

In terms of quantity, the exports of the vegetables witnessed increase of 15.02 percent by going up from 831.552 metric tons to 956.449 metric tons, according to the data.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the fruit exports witnessed decrease of 33.18 percent during the month of May 2019 when compared to the same month of last year. The fruit exports in May 2019 were recorded at $ 13.027 million against the exports of $19.497 million in May 2018, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of fruits however witnessed an increased of 10.92 percent in May 2019 when compared to the exports of $11.745 million in April 2019.

Similarly, the vegetables exports on year-on-year basis decreased by 18.69 percent, from $25.636 million in May 2018 to $20.845 million in May 2019.

On month-on-month basis, the vegetables exports also witnessed decrease of 35.86 percent in May 2019 when compared to the exports of $32.501 million in April 2019, according to the data.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country's overall merchandize trade deficit plunged by 13.62 per cent during the first eleven months of fiscal year 2018-19 compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The trade deficit contracted by 13.62 per cent to $29.207 billion during the period against the deficit of $33.812 billion recorded during last year.

The exports during the period under review witnessed nominal decrease of 0.3% by falling from $21.330 billion during last year to $21.267 billion.

On the other hand, the imports declined by 8.47 per cent to $50.474 billion during the period under review from $55.142 billion last year, the data revealed.

On year-on-year basis, the exports declined by 1.72 per cent, from $2.139 billion in May 2018 to $2.102 billion in May 2019 while the imports declined by 12.8 per cent from $5.782 billion in May 2018 to $5.042 billion in May 2019, the data revealed.