Pakistan’s trade deficit widened sharply during the first seven months of the current fiscal year, rising 28.22 percent to $22.04 billion, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Monday.
In the same period last year (July–January FY25), the trade deficit stood at $17.19 billion. The year-on-year increase was mainly driven by higher imports and a decline in exports.
Exports during July–January FY26 totaled $18.20 billion, marking a 7.1 percent drop from $19.58 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Imports, meanwhile, rose to $40.23 billion, up 9.42 percent from $36.77 billion a year earlier, further widening the trade gap.
On a monthly basis, however, trade figures showed some improvement. Exports in January 2026 increased to $3.06 billion, up 3.73 percent from $2.95 billion in January 2025.
Imports in January eased slightly to $5.79 billion, down 1.41 percent from $5.87 billion in the same month last year.
As a result, Pakistan’s trade deficit for January 2026 narrowed to $2.72 billion, a 6.61 percent decline compared with $2.92 billion in January 2025.
The trade gap also improved compared with the previous month. On a month-on-month basis, the deficit fell 28.53 percent from $3.81 billion in December 2025, suggesting some short-term relief in external pressures despite the overall deterioration during the fiscal year so far.
