ISLAMABAD: Export of footballs from Pakistan during July-May (2017-18) has increased by 10.64 per cent as compared to same months of the previous year.
According to the latest data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), as many as 37.28 million numbers of manufactured footballs valuing $153.018 million were sent abroad during the period under review compared to the export of 32.568 million footballs worth $138.3 million during July-May (2016-17).
The increase in export of footballs is witnessed amid the ongoing FIFA World Cup in Russia, where Pakistan’s manufactured footballs are being used.
The football that is being used in the tournament is technically termed as thermo bonded, which was first introduced in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Before that, Pakistan had supplied hand stitched football for almost all the World Cups from the 1990s to 2010.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the export of footballs also witnessed a surge of 29.4 per cent in May 2018 compared to that of May 2017.
During the month, 4.164 million footballs worth $15.6 million were supplied across the globe compared to the export of 2.712 million footballs valuing $12.083 million in May 2017.
Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, football exports also witnessed an increase of 2.02 per cent as the export during April 2018 stood at $15.3 million against the export of $15.6 million in May this year.
