Pakistan’s textile exports fall for second consecutive year

July 19, 2024 (MLN): Textile group exports — the cornerstone of Pakistan’s economy — fell for the second consecutive year in fiscal year 2023-24 amid rising production costs due to soaring energy prices and power shortages.

During FY24, textile exports shrank 2.0% to $16.3bn from $16.6bn in the previous year.

Throughout the year, the monthly exports consistently fell over $600 million below the installed capacity, The All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) said last month while voicing concerns regarding the FY25 budget proposed by the government.

The trade organization representing the largest sector of Pakistan had stressed that no measures have been put forward to resolve the industry-wide energy crisis.

Grid power tariffs soared to 16.4 cents/kWh. That is more than twice the regional average.

Other Exports

The total exports as per BOP during FY24 clocked in at $31.09bn, up by 11.5% YoY compared to $27.88bn in FY23.

Textile Group remained the major exportable goods for Pakistan as this group accounted for 52.4% of the total exports.

During the year, key contributing products under the textile head were Knitwear ($4bn), Readymade Garments ($3.47bn), and Bed Wear ($2.79bn).

Knitwear exports fell by 5.34%, Readymade Garments exports dropped by 0.73%, and the inflow of foreign currency through bedwear decreased by 0.45%.

The food group remained the second most contributing group in total exports. The export value of this group stood at $7.08bn, showing a significant growth of 49.5% YoY compared to $4.74bn in FY23.

Under the same group, Rice remained the major source of foreign exchange earnings as the export value of the commodity during FY24 stood at $3.68bn marking an increase of 74.8% YoY.

The export of Oil Seeds, Nuts, and Kernels stood at $387 million in FY24, growing by 122.9% YoY compared to $173.63m in FY23.

Going forward, the exports of surgical goods & medical instruments inched up by 0.5% YoY to clock in at $457.14m.

Meanwhile, the exports of leather manufacturers saw a negative trend as they went down by 3.4% YoY to $606.18m in FY24.

Sports goods foreign earnings also decreased by 4.6% YoY to $439.37m in FY24.

Export receipts through the chemical and pharmaceutical products also fell by 0.6% YoY to $1.42m in FY24.

The data further shows that the share of the Petroleum group in the country’s total export basket was only 1.78% during the year.

However, receipts increased significantly by 90.2% YoY to $552.54m during FY24.

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