Exports of fish and their ancillary products have seen a sharp increase of 52% in the first two months of this fiscal year as compared to the same months of last fiscal year.

According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), sea-food exports have jumped to a high of USD 37.941 million in July and August 2022 as compared to the amount of USD 24.949 million in the same months of last fiscal year (2021-22). This shows that there has been an increase of 52.07% in the exports of fish from Pakistan, which is a very good sign.

In real terms, the amount of fish exported in the first two months of this fiscal year stood at 15,864 metric tons as compared to the same figure being 11,128 metric tons in the two months of last fiscal year under consideration. This shows an increase of 42.56% over last year in the actual amount of fish exported.

In the same vein if the comparison is done on year-on-year basis, the increase is staggering. In the month of August 2022, the export of fish and fish-related products reached a mark of USD 19.435 million whereas in the same month last year they were USD 10.716 million. This shows an increase of 81.36% on year-on-year basis.

In terms of actual quantity, the amount exported this August stood at 7,806 metric tons as compared to 4,326 metric tons of last year’s August. This shows an increase of 80.44% over the previous August.

The PBS data showed that on a month-on-month basis, the seafood exports increased by 5.02% when compared to the exports of $18.506 million in July 2022.

In terms of quantity, the sea-food exports, however, declined by 3.13% in August 2022 when compared to the exports of 8,058 metric tons in July 2022.

Overall food exports also saw an increase in the months of July and August this year. As compared to the same months last year they increased by 9.79%. In this year’s first two months, they stood at USD 725.024 million whereas in the same months last year they were USD 660.345 million.

Similarly, total exports from the country stood at USD 4.759 billion during July and August of this fiscal year (2022-23) as against the exports of USD 4.587 billion recorded during July and August of 2021-22.

Imports, however, saw a decrease of 9.25%. They decreased from USD 12.152 billion in the year 2021 to USD 11.028 billion this year.

Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at USD 6.269 billion, showing a decrease of 17.13% over the deficit of USD 7.565 billion recorded last year, the PBS data showed.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk