ISLAMABAD: The export of pharmaceutical goods witnessed an increase of 22.29 percent during the first four months of current financial year (2020-21) as compared to the export of corresponding period of last year.

The pharmaceutical exports were recorded at $89.431 million during July-October (2020-21) as against the export of $73.129 million during July-October (2019-20), showing growth of 22.29 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In term of quantity, the export of pharmaceutical products also increased by 22.87 percent by going up from 4,722 metric ton to 5,802 metric ton, according to the data.

Meanwhile, year- on- year basis the pharmaceutical export rose by 20.08 percent during the month of October 2020 as compared to the same month of last year.

The pharmaceutical exports in October 2020 were recorded at $21.038 million against the export of $17.520 million in October 2019, the PBS data revealed.

On month- on- month basis, the exports of pharmaceutical product however witness decrease of 23.12 percent in October 2020 when compared to the exports of $27.366 million in September 2020.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandize trade deficit decreased by 1.36 percent during the first four months of current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year.

The deficit during July-October (2020-21) was recorded at $7.617 billion as compared to the deficit of $7.722 billion, showing decrease of 1.36 percent.

During the period under review, the country’s exports registered positive growth of 0.62 percent, by going up from $7.529 billion last year to $7.576 billion during the current year.

On the other hand, the imports decreased by 0.38 percent, from $15.251 billion last year to $15.193 billion during the current year.