ISLAMABAD:  Tea imports into the country increased by 9.08 percent during the first month of the current fiscal year compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

Pakistan imported tea worth $45.919 million during July 2017 compared to the imports of $42.097 million in July 2016, showing a growth of 9.08 percent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) latest data.

In terms of quantity, the tea imports however decreased by 4.33 percent as these declined from the imports of 17,584 metric tons in July 2016 to 16,822 metric tons in July 2017.

Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, the tea imports into the country increased by 39.21 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $32.987 million in June 2017.

In terms of quantity, the tea imports went up by 39.45 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of 12,063 metric tons in June 2016.

Overall food imports into the country increased by 43.15 percent in July 2017 compared to the imports of the same month of last year.

The food group imports into the country in July 2017 stood at $534.693 million as against the imports of $373.512 million.

On month-on-month basis, the food imports into the country increased by 9.51 percent in July 2017 when compared to the imports of $488.240 million in June 2017, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandise imports during the first month of the current fiscal year (July 2017) increased by 36.74 percent compared to July 2016.

The imports into the country during July 2017 were recorded at $4.835 billion compared to the imports of $3.536 billion.

On the other hand, the exports from the country witnessed 10.58 percent increase compared to the corresponding month of last year.

Pakistan exported goods worth $1.631 billion in July 2017 compared to the exports of $1.475 billion in July 2016, showing upward growth of 10.58 percent.