By Jawad Ahmed ISLAMABAD, May 11 (WealthPK-INP): Pakistan's exports to Europe climbed by 20.3% to $8.11 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2021-22, up from $6.74 billion in the same period of previous fiscal year, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). In July-March FY22, Pakistan’s earned $579 million from Eastern Europe, $2.206 billion from Northern Europe, $1.942 billion from Southern Europe, and $3.382 billion from Western Europe. All of these regions' exports have increased by 11.5%, 10.8%, 37.9%, and 19.9%, respectively. [caption id="attachment_66982" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: State Bank of Pakistan/WealthPK research[/caption] Month on month (MoM) comparison shows that exports to Western Europe increased by $439.8 million in March 2022, compared to $355.5 million in February 2022. Exports to Southern Europe increased from $211.9 million to $285.1 million, and exports to Northern Europe surged by $271.4 million to $219 million during the corresponding month. Meanwhile, exports to Eastern Europe showed steady increase in March compared to the previous month, the SBP stats showed. [caption id="attachment_66981" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: SBP/WealthPK research[/caption] On the other hand, imports from Europe totaled $6.455 billion in July-March 2021-22, up from $5.23 billion in corresponding months of previous year 2020-21, indicating a 23.4% increase over the previous year. During July-March FY21-22, imports from Western Europe totaled $3.152 billion, compared to $2.684 billion in the previous year, with a 17.44% rise. While comparing the same period of the previous year to the first nine months of FY21-22, imports from Southern Europe increased by 59.5% from $0.612 billion to $0.976 billion, imports from Northern Europe increased by 20.17% from $0.952 billion to $1.144 billion, and imports from Eastern Europe increased by 20.96% from $0.978 billion to $1.183 billion. [caption id="attachment_66980" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: State Bank of Pakistan/ WealthPK research[/caption] According to the SBP data, imports from Eastern and Northern Europe fell in March 2022 compared to the previous month of the current year. Imports from Southern and Western Europe posted a significant increase during March. Pakistan imported $692.08 million worth of goods from all regions of Europe in March 2022, an increase of 4.36% from $663.16 million in February 2022. [caption id="attachment_66979" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Source: State Bank of Pakistan/ WealthPK research[/caption] European countries are the major trading partners of Pakistan. The country’s imports and exports are heavily influenced by the European markets. Pakistan earns a large amount of foreign exchange from European nations by exporting commodities under the generalized scheme of preferences (GSP) Plus status. It accounted for 14.3% of the country’s total trade in 2020 and absorbed 28% of Pakistan’s total exports. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan exports to European countries are dominated by textile and clothes. According to the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) statistics, exports of textiles and clothing accounted for 75.2% of overall exports to the European nations in 2020. The majority of Pakistan's imports from Europe are machinery and transport equipment, as well as chemicals.