Pakistan’s textile exports rise 1.83% to $16.67 billion in 11 months

Pakistan’s textile exports increased by 1.83% to $16.665 billion during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2025-26, compared with $16.365 billion in the corresponding period last year, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Growth was supported by higher exports of readymade garments, knitwear, bedwear, cotton yarn and other textile materials, while shipments of cotton cloth, synthetic textiles, tents and non-cotton yarn declined.

Knitwear remained the largest textile export category, with shipments rising by 1.03% to $4.602 billion during July-May FY26 from $4.555 billion a year earlier.

Readymade garment exports increased by 5.43% to $3.973 billion, compared with $3.768 billion in the same period of FY25.

Bedwear exports rose by 2.23% to $2.902 billion from $2.839 billion.

Exports of made-up textile articles, excluding towels and bedwear, increased by 1.17% to $721.6 million from $713.26 million.

Cotton yarn exports recorded growth of 13.35%, reaching $701.1 million from $618.53 million.

Exports of other textile materials rose by 9.24% to $735.7 million, compared with $673.47 million in the corresponding period last year.

Raw cotton exports increased by 199.20% to $2.606 million from $871,000, although the category accounted for a small share of overall textile shipments.

Cotton cloth exports decline

Cotton cloth exports fell by 7.43% to $1.560 billion during the 11-month period from $1.686 billion a year earlier.

Towel exports remained almost unchanged, declining marginally by 0.01% to $995.34 million from $995.423 million.

Exports of yarn other than cotton yarn dropped by 8.44% to $28.086 million from $30.776 million.

Art silk and synthetic textile exports declined by 9.73% to $330.108 million, compared with $365.708 million in the same period last year.

Exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulins fell by 4.29% to $112.721 million from $117.769 million.

May performance

PBS reported that textile exports increased by 7.13% year-on-year in May 2026.

The data stated that textile shipments reached $1.640 billion in May 2026, compared with $1.50 billion in May 2025. However, the stated values imply a higher percentage increase than the reported 7.13%, indicating a discrepancy in the published figures.

On a month-on-month basis, PBS reported a 10.80% increase in textile exports from $1.480 billion in April 2026. This rate is consistent with May exports of approximately $1.640 billion, although another figure in the data placed May textile exports at $1.680 billion.

Pakistan’s overall merchandise exports stood at a provisional $2.690 billion in May, increasing by 9% from $2.468 billion in April.

Compared with May 2025, when total exports amounted to $2.671 billion, shipments rose by 0.71%.