Pakistan's seafood exports soar 52pc to $37.9 million in two months

Karachi: The exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 52.07 percent during the first two months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The seafood exports during July-August (2022-23) were recorded at $37.941 million against the exports of $24.949 million in July-August (2021-22), showing growth of around 52.07 per cent, according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, the exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 42.56 percent by going up from 11,128 metric tons last year to 15,864 metric tons in first two months of last year.

On year-on-year basis, the seafood exports increased by 81.36 percent to $19.435 million in August 2022 from the exports of $10.716 million during August 2021, according to the PBS data.

The exports also witnessed 80.44 hike in terms of quantity by going up from 4,326 metric tons last year to 7,806 metric tons this year.

On month-on-month basis, the seafood exports increased by 5.02 percent when compared to the exports of $18.506 million in July 2022, the PBS data revealed.

In terms of quantity, the fish exports however, declined by 3.13 percent in August 2022 when compared to the exports of 8,058 metric tons in July 2022.

The overall food exports during the first two months of the current year increased by 9.79 percent. The food exports in July-August were recorded at $725.024 million against the exports of $660.345 million last year.

The overall exports from the country were recorded at $4.759 billion during July-August (2022-23) against the exports of $4.587 billion recorded during July-August (2021-22).

On the other hand, the imports into the country decreased by 9.25 percent by declining from $12.152 billion last year to $11.028 billion in July-August (2022-23).

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

SOURCE: APP