Textile exports surge 15.85% in January
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
In first seven months total textile exports rose 10.6% to $10.77 billion, up from $9.74 billion in same period last year
Pakistan’s textile exports jumped 15.85 percent year-over-year in January 2025, reaching $1.686 billion from $1.477 billion a year earlier, continuing a double-digit growth trend since August 2024, except in December.
In the first seven months (July-January 2024-25), total textile exports rose 10.6 percent to $10.77 billion, up from $9.74 billion in the same period last year.
The growth was driven by finished goods, while the raw material exports declined, signaling a shift toward the value-added products.
Knitwear led with a 29.3pc surge to $468.3 million, followed by readymade garments, up 19.1pc to $397 million. Bedwear exports grew 14.5pc to $288.7 million, cotton cloth 3.35pc to $165 million, and towels 6.1pc to $101.97 million.
In contrast, the cotton yarn exports fell 19.9pc to $65 million, and raw cotton exports dropped to zero, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
For fiscal 2023-24, the total textile exports stood at $16.65 billion, marking a modest 0.9pc increase. With the current pace, the sector could cross $18 billion mark.
Meanwhile, food exports declined 16.9pc to $653.6 million in January, mainly due to a 33.2pc drop in rice exports to $319 million following India’s market reopening.
Basmati rice exports fell 13pc to $77.8 million, while the other rice varieties dropped 37.8pc to $241 million.
Fruit exports inched up 4.4pc to $41.4 million, but vegetable exports plunged 53.2pc to $34.1 million.
Fish exports remained steady at $30.3 million, meat declined 2.7pc to $45.6 million, while sugar exports reached $64.3 million, up from zero last year.
Sports goods exports fell 2.13pc to $31.35 million, with footballs down 10.6pc to $17.4 million. Surgical goods and medical instruments rose 6.56pc to $40.15 million, cement exports soared 40pc to $20.6 million, and chemical and pharmaceutical exports jumped 38.5pc to $136 million. Pharmaceutical exports saw the biggest gain, surging 159.6pc to $55 million.
While on the import side, petroleum group imports rose 3.45pc year-over-year in January 2025, reaching $1.37 billion from $1.33 billion a year earlier.
The crude oil imports surged 18.8pc to $435.6 million, petroleum products 21.1pc to $517.6 million, and LPG 21.2pc to $105.9 million. However, the LNG imports declined 29.6pc to $313.3 million.
The machinery group’s total imports in January jumped 18.4pc to $887.7 million. Of this, the textile machinery imports soared 100.7pc to $22.2 million, power generation machinery 67.8pc to $59.3 million, and agriculture machinery 29.2pc to $15.5 million.
The construction and mining machinery imports climbed 58pc to $14 million, while electrical machinery rose 10.3pc to $309 million. In contrast, telecom machinery imports fell 16.6pc to $194 million, with mobile phone imports down 30.66pc to $135.1 million.
The transport sector imports surged 58pc to $214 million. Road motor vehicle imports, including built units and CKD/SKD, totaled $200.7 million, up 70pc year-over-year. Completely Built Units (CBU) imports for buses, trucks, and heavy vehicles rose 5.6pc to $41.7 million, while motor car imports declined 15.9pc to $27 million.
CKD/SKD imports for heavy vehicles surged 159.4pc to $128.2 million. Of this, buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles imports increased 360.3pc to $43.34 million, and motor cars soared 118.7pc to $79 million. Motorcycle imports rose 47.6pc to $5.4 million, and parts and accessories imports increased 22.2pc to $27.7 million.
Reference Link:- https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1284012-textile-exports-surge-15-85pc-in-january
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
