Pakistan’s Trade Deficit Widens by 180% in April as Imports Surge

Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 180.58 percent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis and stood at $2.374 billion in April 2024 compared to $846 million during the same month of 2023, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The imports increased by 58.43 percent on a YoY basis and stood at $4.723 billion in April 2024 compared to $2.981 billion in April 2023. The exports increased by 10.02 percent on a YoY basis and stood at $2.349 billion in April 2024 compared to $2.135 billion in April 2023. On a MoM basis, the trade deficit widened by 3.16 percent to $2.374 billion in April 2024, as compared to $2.301 billion in March 2024. Exports recorded 8.67 percent decline to $2.349 billion in April 2024 when compared with $2.572 billion in March 2024. Import decreased by 3.08 percent to $4.723 billion in April 2024 compared with $4.873 billion in March 2024. The trade deficit narrowed down by 17.09 percent in the first ten months (July-April) of the current fiscal year 2023-24 as it stood at $19.514 billion compared to $23.535 billion during the same period of last fiscal year. The country’s exports increased by 9.10 percent ($2.109 billion) to $25.280 billion during July-April FY24 compared to $23.171 billion in the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. Imports declined by 4.09 percent to $44.794 billion during the first ten months of the current fiscal year as compared with $46.706 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.