The imports of the overall petroleum group contracted by 9.27 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year (2022-23) as compared to the corresponding period of the last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The total imports of the petroleum group during July-January (2022-23) stood at $10,611.740 million, as against the imports of $11,696.009 million during the same period of last year, according to PBS data. Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 14.73 percent, from $5,734.241 million last year to $4,889.800 million during the time period under review. Likewise, the imports of liquefied natural gas declined by 20.84 percent and dropped from $2,769.741 million last year to $2,192.489 million this year. On the other hand, the products that witnessed positive growth included petroleum crude, the imports of which grew by 10.90 percent, from $2,795.867 million last year to $3,100.482 million whereas imports of liquefied petroleum gas increased by 8.26 percent, from $395.977 million to $428.687 million. The imports of all other petroleum products increased by 54.08 percent, from $ 0.183 million to $0.282 million. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed a decrease of 12.42 percent during the month of January 2023 as compared to the same months of last year. The petroleum imports during January 2023, were recorded as $1,326.208 million against the imports of $1,514.244 million during January 2022. On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country declined by 16.34 percent during January 2023, as compared to the imports of $1,585.263 million in December 2022, said the data.