Food exports surge 9.85pc to 1.072bn

ISLAMABAD: The food exports from the country increased by 9.85 percent during the first four months of the current fiscal year against the exports of the corresponding period of last year.

The food exports from the country were recorded at $1072.895 million during July-October (2017-18) against the exports of $976.719 million during July-October (2016-17), according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The food commodities that contributed in positive growth of trade included rice, exports of which grew by 16.87 percent, from $391.595 million last year to $457.663 million during the current fiscal year.

Among the rice commodities, the exports of Basmati rice increased by 0.08 percent whereas that of other rice commodities expanded by 23.97 percent, the data revealed.

Similarly, the exports of fish and fish preparations from the country increased by 6.10 percent by going up from $114.802 million last year to $121.810 million during the current fiscal year.

The wheat and sugar exports witnessed cent percent increase during the current year as exports of these commodities were recorded at $0.254 million and $60.922 million against zero exports of last year.

The exports of oil seeds, nuts and kernals also increased by 26.95 percent and reached to $13.134 million against the exports of $10.346 million last year.

The food commodities that witnessed negative growth in exports during the first four months of the current fiscal year included fruits, exports of which decreased by 20.24 percent by declining from $121.257 million last year to $96.713 million during the current fiscal year.

The exports of vegetables also decreased from $35.446 million to $33.568 million, showing decrease of 5.3 percent, tobacco exports decreased by 6.35 percent, from $2.929 million to $2.743 million while the exports of spices decreased from $21.937 million to $21.644 million, showing decrease of 1.34 percent.

The meat and meat preparations’ exports also decreased from $69.454 million to $63.251 million, showing decline of 8.93 percent while the exports of all other food commodities decreased from $208.953 million to $201.193 million, a decrease of 3.71 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the food exports from the country witnessed negative growth of 4.28 percent during the month of October 2017 compared to the same month of last year.

The food exports during October 2017 were recorded at $330.229 million against the exports of $244.987 million recorded during October 2016, according to the PBS data.