Food exports rise 7.68pc in July-August, imports slow

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's exports of raw food items rose 7.68 per cent in July-August, the first two months of fiscal year 2026-27, reversing the negative trend seen in the preceding fiscal year, according to data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and reported by Dawn.

Rice was the largest contributor to the recovery. Pakistan Today, citing the same PBS data, put the increase in food exports at 7.7 per cent and said rice shipments had surged.

On the import side, food purchases grew only 2.23 per cent during the first two months of the fiscal year, reaching $1.503 billion against $1.470 billion in the comparable period last year. That worked out to an increase of about $33 million. The rise was driven mainly by higher purchases of powdered milk and tea, the Dawn report said.

The federal government has already approved a plan to import wheat to plug shortfalls in local production. The report did not state the quantity of wheat to be imported or the timeline for the shipments.

The figures suggest that food trade performed better in the opening months of 2026-27 than in the previous year, when food exports had declined. Rice exports were the single largest factor in the turnaround, while the slower growth in imports helped narrow the gap between food exports and imports.

Dawn noted that the absolute value of food imports remained above $1.5 billion for the two-month period, even as the growth rate was modest. The Bureau of Statistics has not released a detailed commodity-wise breakdown for the period.

Pakistan's fiscal year runs from July to June. The July-August data are the first official trade figures for 2026-27. Dawn reported that the government's wheat import decision follows a shortfall in domestic wheat output, though the magnitude was not specified. The rise in rice exports was also highlighted by Pakistan Today as the main reason for the rebound. Both outlets based their reports on the same set of PBS statistics.