Pakistan’s trade deficit shrank marginally to $3.6 billion during the first two months of fiscal year 2024-25 (2MFY25) due to an increase in exports, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Tuesday.

The country’s trade balance, gap between exports and imports, was recorded at a deficit of $3.58 billion in July to August period of 2024-25 as compared to $3.74 billion in the same period of the previous year.

During 2MFY25, Pakistan’s exports increased by 14% to $5.05 billion, up from $4.43 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Pakistan’s trade deficit contracts 12% YoY to $24.1bn in FY24

On the other hand, imports increased by 5.67% to $8.63 billion in 2MFY25 as compared to $8.17 billion in 2MFY24.

Monthly figures

According to the PBS, the country’s trade deficit declined significantly by 20.54% year-on-year to $1.68 billion in August 2024 from $2.11 billion in the same period of 2024.

The decline comes on the back of strong growth in exports while imports dipped marginally.

Exports increased by 15.93% to $2.74 billion in August 2024 from $2.37 billion in the same month of the previous year. On the other hand, imports slipped by 1.25% to $4.42 billion in August 2024 from $4.47 billion in the same month last year.

Moreover, on a month-on-month basis, trade deficit also declined notably by 12.03% to $1.68 billion as compared to $1.9 billion in July 2024.

Exports increased by 18.9% to $2.74 billion when compared monthly to $2.31 billion in the preceding month of July. Meanwhile, imports inched up by 4.92% to $4.42 billion from $4.21 billion last month.