ISLAMABAD: The exports of tobacco from the country witnessed an increase of 41.64 percent during the first five months of current financial year 2019-20, against the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
The tobacco exports from the country were recorded at $11.616 million during July-November (2019-20) against the exports of $8.201 million during July-November (2018-19), according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
In terms of quantity, the exports of tobacco witnessed an increase of 18.84 percent by going up from 3,333 metric tons to 3,961 metric tons, according to the data.
Meanwhile, on-year-on-year basis, the export of tobacco, however witnessed declined of 38.21 percent during the month of November 2019 when compared to the same month of last year.
The exports of tobacco from the country during November 2019 were recorded at $3.984 million against the exports of $6.448 million in November 2018.
On month-on-month basis, the exports of tobacco increased by 5.68 percent during November 2019 when compared to the exports of 3.770 million in October 2019, the PBS data revealed.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country's merchandise trade deficit plunged by 33.67 percent during the first six months of the current fiscal year (2019-20) as compared to the deficit of the same month of last year.
The trade deficit during July-December (2019-20) was recorded at $ 11.628 billion against the deficit of $16.771 billion during July-December (2018-19), the data revealed.
The exports during the period increased from $ 11.181 billion during last year to $11.535 billion during the current fiscal year, showing growth of 3.17 percent.
On the other hand, the imports into the country witnessed decline of 17.13 percent by falling from $ 27.952 billion last year to $23.163 billion during the current fiscal year, the data revealed.