Pakistan’s trade deficit surged by more than 30%, reaching $2.87 billion in August 2025, compared to the same month in the previous year, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed on Tuesday.
In August 2024, the trade balance recorded a deficit of $2.20 billion. The widening of the trade gap in August 2025 was driven by higher imports and a decrease in exports.
Exports for August 2025 were recorded at $2.42 billion, reflecting a 12.5% decline compared to $2.76 billion in August 2024. On the other hand, imports rose by over 6%, reaching $5.29 billion, up from $4.96 billion in the same period last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit narrowed by 9% in August 2025 compared to $3.14 billion in July 2025.
In the first two months of the fiscal year 2025-26 (2MFY26), the trade deficit increased by more than 29% to $6.01 billion, compared to $4.66 billion in the same period last year.
Exports during 2MFY26 saw a slight increase of 0.6%, reaching $5.1 billion from $5.06 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, imports rose by 14%, reaching $11.12 billion compared to $9.73 billion in 2MFY25.
