Pakistan’s trade deficit surges 24% YoY to $3.7bn in December 2025

Pakistan’s trade deficit significantly increased by nearly 24% to $3.7 billion in December 2025, as compared to the same month of the previous year, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.

The country’s trade balance, the gap between exports and imports, was recorded at a deficit of $2.99 billion in December 2024.

The trade deficit expanded year-on-year (YoY) in November 2025, driven by higher imports and a significant decrease in exports.

Exports in December 2025 stood at $2.32 billion, down 20.4% against $2.91 billion recorded in December 2024.

Meanwhile, imports were recorded at $6.02 billion, up over 2% against $5.9 billion in the same period last year (SPLY).

On a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the trade deficit increased by over 28% in December 2025 against $2.89 billion in November 2025. The growth came amid a decrease in exports and a jump in imports on a monthly basis.

During the first six months of the fiscal year 2025-26 (6MFY26), the country’s trade deficit increased by nearly 35% to $19.20 billion from $14.27 billion recorded in SPLY.

Exports in 6MFY26 decreased by nearly 9% to $15.18 billion from $16.63 billion in SPLY.

On the other hand, imports in 6MFY26 rose by 11% to $34.39 billion from $30.90 billion recorded in 6MFY25.

Earlier, Pakistan’s current account recorded a cumulative deficit of $812 million in the first five months of this fiscal year (FY26), as compared to a surplus of $503 million in the same period last year.