ISLAMABAD: The tea imports into the country witnessed an increase of 26.72 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The tea imports into the country during July-November (2020-21) stood at US $ 233.632 million against the imports of $184.365 million during July-November (2019-20), according to the latest figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the tea imports into the country increased by 36 percent during the period under review as these grew from 78,771 metric tons to 107,252 metric tons, the data revealed.

The overall food imports into the country increased by 44.53 percent from $2088.960 million last year to $3019.072 million during the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the tea imports into the country increased by 5.98 percent during the month of November 2020 as compared to the same month of last year.

The tea imports during November 2020 were recorded at US $ 44.293 million against the imports of US $ 41.794 million.

However, on month-on-month basis, the tea imports into the country decreased by 6.51 percent in November 2020 when compared to the imports of US $ 47.377 million in October 2020, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s overall merchandize exports increased by 2.21 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year compared to previous year by growing form $9,536 million to US $ 9,747 million.

The imports into the country also went up from $19175 million last year to US $ 19487 million, showing growth of 1.63 percent.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit witnessed a slight increase of 1.05 percent by growing from $9,639 million to $9,740 million, the data revealed.