March 16, 2021 (MLN): The exports of the food group witnessed a decline of 5.85% YoY to $2.85 billion during eight months of the current fiscal year. While, imports of the food group into the country were recorded at $5.34 billion, up by 50.3% YoY in 8MFY21.
According to the latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on export receipts by commodities, the food group contributed around 17.5% of the total exports during 8MFY21.
On the exports side, Rice, Fruits and Fish & Fish Preparations were the major sources of Foreign exchange earnings as their exports valued at $1.33 billion, $339 million and $250 million respectively. In terms of percentage, the exports of Rice, Fruits and Fish & Fish Preparations declined by 4.26% YoY, 1.89% YoY and 10% YoY respectively during Jul-Feb FY21
During the month of February 2021, the exports of food products saw a decrease of 2.9% YoY and 0.53% MoM, to reach $411 million.
The data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics revealed that food imports into Pakistan surged by 40.5% YoY while on a monthly basis, it dropped by 4% to stand at $704 million in the month of February 2021.
During July-Feb FY21, Pakistan imported 2,167,242 metric tons of palm oil, worth a total of $1.58 billion. This marks an increase of 34% compared with the same period of the last fiscal year. A sharp increase was also seen in tea imports. It jumped by 16% YoY to stand at $379 million during 8MFY21 when compared to the same period of FY20.
