Textile exports drops 12% MoM in August

September 17, 2026 (MLN): Textile exports drop by 12.48% MoM to $1.43bn in August 2026 compared to $1.64bn in July 2026, data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed.

On a year-on-year basis, the exports of the same group registered an increase of 1.99% compared to exports worth $1.41bn in August 2025.

The total exports as per BOP for August clocked in at $2.46bn, down by 1.12% YoY compared to $2.49bn in August 2025.

Likewise, on a monthly basis, exports declined by 17.59% MoM.

In August 2026, Textile Group products remained the major exportable goods for Pakistan as this group accounted for 58.32% of the total exports.

During the review month, key contributing products under the textile head were Cotton ($180.11m), Knitwear apparel ($443.91m), Readymade Garments ($343.24m), and Other Made-up Textile Articles ($429.96m).

Cotton exports rose by 4.9% YoY but fell 18% MoM, Knitwear apparel exports dipped by 0.78% YoY and 6.57% MoM, Readymade Garments exports increased by 4.02% YoY though eased 14.79% MoM, and the inflow of foreign currency through Other Made-up Textile Articles moved up by 3.43% YoY but slipped 13.05% MoM.

The combined animal, vegetable, fats and prepared-foodstuffs groups remained the second most contributing segment in total exports.

The export value of this segment stood at $442.44m, showing a significant growth of 17.81% YoY compared to $375.55m in August 2025.

Likewise, on a monthly basis, exports from the respective segment fell by 11.92% MoM compared to $502.32m in July 2026.

Under the same segment, Cereals remained a major source of foreign exchange earnings as the export value of the commodity during August 2026 stood at $169.56m, marking a decline of 23.65% MoM but an increase of 12.47% YoY.

The export of Oil Seeds and Oleaginous Fruit stood at $30.88m in August, growing by 129.31% YoY and 36.2% MoM compared to $13.47m in August 2025 and $22.68m in July 2026 respectively.

Going forward, exports of optical, photographic and medical instruments grew by 6.13% YoY to clock in at $39.64m.

The exports of leather manufacturers also saw a positive trend as they went up by 15.36% YoY to $78.55m in August 2026.

However, sports goods foreign earnings fell by 22.78% YoY and 22.72% MoM to $24.80m in August 2026, down from $32.12m in August 2025 and $32.10m in July 2026.

Inflow through chemical and allied industry products increased by 4.88% YoY to $42.76m in August 2026 compared to $40.77m in SPLY, with Pharmaceutical Products alone up 12.72% YoY to $22.33m.

The data further shows that the share of the Petroleum group in the country's total export basket was only 3.06% in August 2026.

During the review period, the country earned $75.35m from exports of mineral fuels and oils, increasing by 39.52% YoY.

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