Daily Times

The import of medicinal products witnessed a decline of 76.25 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

Pakistan imported medicinal products worth $735.944 million during July-December (2022-23) as compared to the imports of $3099.120 million during July- December (2021-22), according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

In terms of quantity, medicinal imports also dipped by 30.34 percent, as the country imported 18,889 metric tons of medicinal products during the period under review as compared to the imports of 27,114 metric tons last year.

Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, medicinal products import during December 2022 decreased by 89.43 percent, from $975.631 million in December 2021 to $103.143 million.

On a monthly basis, medicinal product imports during December 2022 also declined by 33.51 percent as compared to the imports of $155.130 million in November 2022.

It is pertinent to mention here that during the first seven months of the current fiscal year, the merchandise trade deficit witnessed a decline of 31.97 percent and was recorded at $19,632 million this year against the deficit of $ 28,859 million last year.

According to PBS data, the exports from July-January 2022 were recorded at $16,469 million against the exports of $17,739 million in July-January (2021-22), showing a decline of 7.16 percent.

On the other hand, the imports of the country decreased by 22.53 percent during the period under review going down from $ 46,598 million last year to $ 36,101 million during the current year.