Daily Times

The exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 23.53 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.

The country earned $185.922 million from seafood exports during July-November (2022-23) against the exports of US $150.502 million in July-November (2021-22), showing growth of around 23.53 percent, PBS reported.

In terms of quantity, the exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 26.31 percent, going up from 56,731 metric tons last year to 71,659 metric tons in the first five months of last year. On a year-on-year basis, the seafood exports decreased by 5.40 percent to $51.198 million in November 2022 from the exports of $54.118 million during November 2021.

However, the exports witnessed a 0.59 percent increase in terms of quantity by going up from 20,643 metric tons last year to 20,764 metric tons this year.

On month-on-month basis, the seafood exports declined by 6.34 percent when compared to the exports of $54.662 million in October, according to the PBS data.

In terms of quantity, fish exports went up by 2.90 percent in November 2022 compared to the exports of 20,179 metric tons in October 2022.

The overall food exports from the country were recorded at $1,927.041 million during July-November (2022-23) against the exports of $1,947.445 million recorded during July-November, showing negative growth of 1.05 percent.

It is pertinent to mention here that the merchandise trade deficit during the first five months witnessed a decline of 30.14 per cent and was recorded at $14,406 million this year against the deficit of $ 20,621 million last year.

According to PBS data, the exports from July-November (2022-23) were recorded at $11,932 million against the exports of $12,362 million in July-November (2021-22), showing a decline of 3.48 percent.

On the other hand, the imports of the country decreased by 20.15 per cent during the period under review by going down from $ 32,983 million last year to $ 26,338 million during the current year.

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