The trade deficit in services widened by 122% to $2.31 billion in the previous fiscal year 2023-24, up from $1.04 billion in FY2022-24, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
In June alone, the trade deficit in services surged by 168% to $414.99 million, compared to $154.7 million in the same month last year.
The country’s export of services grew by a modest 2.77%, reaching $7.8 billion in FY24, up from $7.59 billion the previous year. This growth was largely driven by a surge in information technology (IT) exports.
In rupee terms, service exports saw an improvement of 17.22%, amounting to Rs2.208 trillion in FY24 compared to Rs1.88 trillion in FY23.
In 2022-23, the export of services was $7.3 billion, an increase from $7.1 billion the year before, reflecting a growth of 2.8%.
In June 2024, service exports grew by 8.2% to $640.02 million, up from $591.33 million in the same month last year. However, on a month-on-month basis, service exports posted a decline of 8%.
In rupee terms, June saw a 5.2% growth in service exports, reaching Rs178.2 billion compared to Rs169.47 billion in June of the previous year.
Service imports also jumped 41.4% in June, totaling $1.06 billion, up from $746 million in the same month last year. Over the fiscal year, service imports rose by 17.1% to $10.12 billion from $8.638 billion the previous year.
This increase was mainly driven by higher costs in transport and travel services, with transport payments rising due to increased air passenger fares and sea freight costs reflecting higher shipping rates and insurance premiums following Red Sea attacks.
