Pakistan’s textiles exports dropped for the second consecutive month in November, dropping 18.15% to $1.42 billion from $1.736 billion in the corresponding month last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Friday.
According to the most recent data, exports of readymade clothing were unchanged from the previous year while those of components including cotton fabric, knitwear, bedwear, and towels dropped.
According to PBS, Pakistan’s exports increased by 4.7% in November 2021 over the $1.357 billion in exports in the previous month.
The textile sector’s total exports were down 5.1% from July to November, to $7.36 billion from $7.76 billion during the same period last year.
Compared to November 2021 ($204.85 million), cotton fabric exports fell by 25% to $153.7 million, a 9.45% decline from the previous month’s $169.6 million in exports. But in contrast to October, exports of knitwear increased by 2.17% to $400.2 million, bedwear by 2.45% to $222.5 million, towels by 16.4% to $92.65 million, and readymade garment exports by 18.55% to $326.7 million.
Textile and apparel exports fell 12.8%, bedwear exports down 29.4%, and towels sales overseas fell 12% over the same month last year, while ready-made garment exports remained unchanged from November 2021’s statistics.
With more than 60% of all exports coming from the textile industry, Pakistan is the top exporter in the world. Total textile exports reached a record high of $19.35 billion in FY22, up more than a quarter from $15.4 billion in FY21.
Food exports increased 4.6% to $434.3 million from $415.3 million in October 2022 and declined 15.6% year over year when they were $514.7 million. In comparison to the previous month’s $143.8 million and November 2021’s $231.9 million, rice exports were $203.15 million in October. On a month-to-month basis, rice exports rose by almost 41% in November 2022, while exports fell by 12.4% in comparison to the same month in the previous year.
