Food exports go up 26 percent to $514.7 million in November

ISLAMABAD: The food exports in November 2021 witnessed an increase of 26.44 percent to reach $514.7 million on a year-on-year basis.
According to the data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the food exports during November 2020 had remained $407.08 million. Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, the food exports surged 25.58 percent as compared to exports worth 413.036 million in October 2021.
The food group contributed around 18 percent of the total exports of the country during November 2021. Commodity-wise, rice remained the primary source of foreign exchange earnings during the review period as its exports jumped 35 percent on a month-on-month basis to $231.615 million. On a yearly basis, rice exports surged by only half a percent.
The export of fish & fish preparations remained $9.36 million, showing an increase of 21 percent on a yearly basis and 37 percent on a monthly basis. The exports of meat and meat preparations dropped to $29.156 million from $31.67 million a year ago, showing around 8 percent decline; however, they surged 10.96 percent on a month-on-month basis.
Vegetable exports have seen a threefold increase as the export volume of vegetables reached $33.268 million in November 2021 as compared to $10.12 million in November 2020. Similarly, the group portrayed a strong growth of 84 percent on a month-on-month basis.
Overall, during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the total food exports increased by 27 percent on a year-on-year basis to $1.9 billion as compared to $1.53 billion in the same period of the last financial year.
On the import side, the total import bill of the food group amounted to $888 million, depicting an increase of 31 percent on a year-on-year basis and 16.4 percent on a month-on-month basis. Collectively, the group accounted for almost 11.20 percent of the total imports during November 2021.
The data further revealed that import of palm oil valued at $390 million, showcasing an enormous surge of 83 percent on a year-on-year basis, while on a month-on-month basis, the import bill moved up by 58 percent. – TLTP