Pakistan’s Trade Deficit Widens by 18% in January 2025
Exports in January 2025 were marginally above exports of $2.911 billion in December 2024.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit widened by 18 percent year-on-year (YoY) in January 2025 to $2.3 billion as compared to a deficit of $1.96 billion recorded in the same month of last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday.
Exports in January 2025 increased by 4.6 percent and stood at $2.92 billion compared to $2.792 billion during the same month of last fiscal year.
Imports registered 10 percent growth and stood at $5.233 billion compared to $4.756 billion during the same month of last fiscal year.
Month-on-month performance
On a monthly basis, trade deficit declined by 5.5 percent compared to a deficit of $2.447 billion recorded in December 2024.
Exports in January 2025 were marginally above exports of $2.911 billion in December 2024. On the other hand, imports fell by 2.3 percent compared to $5.358 billion in December 2024.
7-Month performance
The trade deficit was largely stable during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (7MFY25) and stood at $13.49 billion compared to $13.116 billion during the same period of last fiscal year, an increase of just under 3 percent.
Read more: Services trade shortage 9.84% as exports grow by 8.25% in 2 months: PBS
The country’s exports increased by 10 percent during the first seven months (July-November) of FY25 and stood at $19.551 billion compared to $17.77 billion during the same period of FY24.
The imports were up 6.9 percent and stood at $33.03 billion during 7MFY25 compared to $30.0 billion during the same period of FY24.
