Footwear exports decelerate 8.66pc in 5 months

ISLAMABAD: The footwear exports witnessed a decrease of 8.66 percent during the first five months of current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the exports of corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan exported footwear worth US $51.546 million during July-November (2020-21) against the exports of $56.435 million during July-November (2019-20), showing a decline of 8.66 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Among the footwear products, the exports of leather footwear decreased by 9.13 percent as it went down from $43.750 million last year to $48.147 million during the current year.

The canvas footwear exports from the country witnessed growth of 63.39 percent by growing from Just US $ 0.112 million last year to US $ 0.183 million during the current year, the PBS data revealed.

Likewise, the exports of all other footwear commodities also dipped by 6.89 percent during the period under review as these went down from $8.176 million last year to $7.613 million during the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, year-on-year basis, the footwear exports declined by 20.05 percent in November 2020 when compared to the export of the same month of last year. The footwear exports in November 2020 were recorded at $8.957 million against exports of $11.203 million in November 2019.

During the period under review, the leather and canvas footwear exports decreased by 26.65 and 55.17 percent respectively whereas the exports of all other footwear products increased by 21.06 percent.

Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, the exports of footwear decreased by 2.03 percent during November 2020, as compared to the exports of $9.143 million in October 2020, the PBS data revealed.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of leather and canvas decreased by 4.5 percent and 87.38 percent respectively while the exports of all other footwear rose by 14.21 percent.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s merchandize exports increased by 2.21 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The exports during July-November (2020-21) were recorded at $9.747 billion against the exports of $9.536 billion in July-November (2019-20), showing growth of 2.21 percent according to PBS data.

The imports during the period under review also increased 1.63 percent by going up from $19.175 billion last year to $19.487 billion during the current fiscal year.

Based on the figures, there has been slight increase of 1.05 percent in the trade deficit during the period under review as it was recorded at $9.740 billion as compared to the deficit of $9.639 billion during last year.