ISLAMABAD: The consumption of imported tea witnessed an increase of 22.17 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest trade data of the commodity.
The tea imports into the country during July-January (2020-21) stood at $336.140 million against the imports of $275.134 million during July-January (2019-20), according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, the tea imports into the country increased by 32.01 percent during the period under review as these grew from 115,415 metric tons to 152,362 metric tons, the data revealed.
The overall food imports into the country increased by 51.90 percent from $3054.637 million last year to $4639.975 million during the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the tea imports into the country increased by 8.73 percent during the month of January 2021 as compared to the same month of last year.
The tea imports during January 2021 were recorded at $50.233 million against the imports of $46.201 million.
However, on month-on-month basis, the tea imports into the country decreased by 3.91 percent in January 2021 when compared to the imports of $52.276 million in December 2020, the data revealed.
Meanwhile, the overall merchandize exports from the country increased by 4.29 percent during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The exports of the country during July-February (2020-21) were recorded at $16.304 billion against the exports of $15.633 billion during July-February (2019-20), according to the latest PBS data.
The imports during the period under review also increased by 7.49 percent by growing from $31.483 billion last year to $33.840 billion during the first eight months of current fiscal year.
Based on the figures, the country’s trade deficit increased by 10.64 percent during the first eight months as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The trade deficit during the period was recorded at $17.536 billion against the deficit of $15.850 billion last year.