ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s food group exports declined 7.64pc year-on-year (YoY) to $2.03 billion during the first six months (July-December) of the current financial year (2020-21).
According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the food group contributed around 17pc to the total exports of the country during 1HFY21.
Rice, fruits and fish & fish preparations were the major sources of foreign exchange earnings, as their exports clocked in at $963 million, $223 million and $195 million, respectively, during the period under review.
In terms of percentage, the export of rice and fish & fish preparations declined by 6.74pc YoY and 13.32pc YoY, respectively, whereas that of fruits witnessed a meagre growth of 1.84pc YoY during 1HFY21.
As per the data, the export of food products in December 2020 increased 11.83pc YoY and 21.44pc MoM to $494 million.
On the other hand, food imports surged 52pc YoY to $3.90 billion during July-Dec FY21 as compared to the same period of FY20. Data showed that the import of milk and dairy products increased 19.56pc YoY to $91 million during 1HFY21 (27,267 metric tonnes).
During the period under review, Pakistan imported 1,629,769 metric tonnes of palm oil at a cost of $1.11 billion, which was 32pc higher than the same period of the last year. A sharp increase was also seen in tea imports, which jumped 25pc YoY to $285 million.
In the month of December 2020, food group imports clocked in at $886 million i.e. around 85.5pc YoY and 20.3pc MoM higher than Dec 2019 and Nov 2020.
