Pakistan’s textile exports declined by approximately 14 percent during the 10 months of the fiscal year 2023, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The exports declined to $13.7 billion during July-May 2022-23 period. This marks a substantial decrease from the previous year’s figure of $15.9 billion. Textile exports are a major source of foreign exchange earnings for Pakistan and the decline in textile exports put pressure on already precarious forex reserves. However, Pakistan is not the only textile-exporting country that suffered a steep decline in foreign orders. Other major exporters like India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam have suffered steeper declines.
The slowdown can be attributed to the global recession, combined with a challenging domestic environment.
In April 2023, textile exports witnessed a year-on-year decrease of 29 percent, amounting to $1.23 billion marking the seventh consecutive year-on-year decline in monthly textile exports.
This decline is primarily attributed to a 29 percent and 32 percent drop in the value-added and basic segments, respectively. In the value-added segment, bedwear, knitwear, readymade garments, and towels witnessed declines of 22 percent, 34 percent, 29 percent, and 26re percent respectively.
In a month-on-month comparison, Pakistan’s textile exports for April 2023 stood at $1.23 billion, experiencing only a 2 percent decrease. The value-added textile exports reached $867 million, maintaining stability month-on-month. Bedwear increased by 11 percent and knitwear by 3 percent compared to the previous month.
Readymade garments witnessed a 10 percent decline, balancing out the overall export performance. Basic textiles decreased by 7 percent month-on-month, with cotton cloth and cotton yarn experiencing almost the same decline.
Pakistani textile manufacturers have received comparatively larger orders from Europe and the United States for the value-added segment, as indicated by the resilience in volumes. However, among basic textiles, cotton yarn exports continue to decline.
Pakistan textile exports decline by 14 percent in 10 months
