ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s trade deficit with nine neighbouring countries swelled 34.37 per cent to $8.467 billion during the first nine months of FY25 from $6.301bn a year ago.
Due to recent regional political shifts, exports have surged to Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. However, Pakistan’s trade with these nations has faced significant setbacks in recent years, attributed to the challenges posed by unfavourable government policies.
Despite this development, the trade gap with the regional countries widened mainly due to higher imports from China, India and Bangladesh during the months under review.
In FY24, the trade deficit was $9.506bn, up 49pc from $6.382bn in the preceding year.
Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka saw a hefty growth in July-March FY25. Still, exports to other countries, especially China, continued to decline during the period, according to data compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan.
The value of Pakistan’s exports to nine countries — Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives — rose 3.26pc to $3.420bn in July-March FY25 from $3.312bn over the same period last year.
Contrary to this, imports surged 23.65pc to $11.887bn in 9MFY25 from $9.613bn over the same period of the previous fiscal year.
Further analysis showed that imports from China grew by 23.69pc to $11.582bn in 9MFY25 from $9.363bn over the same period last year. In FY24, imports from China stood at $13.506bn, up by 39.78pc from $9.662bn over the previous year. The bulk of imports in the region are sourced from China, followed partially by India and Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s exports to China dipped 12.36pc to $1.878bn in 9MFY25 from $2.143bn over the same months in the preceding fiscal year.
Imports from India increased 12.72pc to $176.31m in 9MFY25 from $156.42m over the last year. In FY24, imports from India rose 8.866pc to $206.89m — up from $190.04m in the same period last year. Meanwhile, exports to India remained at $0.41m in 9MFY25 against $1.23m over the last year. Exports to India stood at $3.669m in FY24 against $0.329m in the same period the previous year.
Exports to Afghanistan increased 64.48pc to $623.28m in 9MFY25 from $378.92m last year. Imports stood at $20.13m against $6.44m in 9MFY24, a growth of 212pc. The Torkham border station remained closed for almost 27 days, disrupting the imports and exports to Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s main exports to Afghanistan include sugar in the current fiscal year. Pakistan exported over 700,000 tonnes of sugar in the past four months, mostly to Afghanistan.
No data is available as most trade with Iran is conducted via informal channels. However, Pakistan has opted for barter trade amid the thriving smuggling of Iranian petroleum products and LPG via a porous border of Balochistan.
Exports to Bangladesh increased by 25pc to $602.83m in 9MFY25 from $482.25m. Imports grew 44.53pc to $62.86m in 9MFY from $43.49m over the last year.
Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2025
