The imports of the overall petroleum group contracted by 13.78 per cent during the first six months of the current fiscal year (2023-24) 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-December (2023-24) stood at $ 8,005.784 million against the imports of $9,285.522 million during the same period of last year. Among petroleum commodities, the import of petroleum products declined by 24 per cent, from $ 4,202.185 million last year to $3,193,849 million during the period under review. Likewise, the imports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) declined by 4.96 per cent from $ 1,949.704 million last year to $ 1,852.996 million this year whereas petroleum crude dipped by 5.94 per cent from $ 2,776.186 million to $ 2,611.179 million. The import of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) went down by 2.69 per cent in the first six months of the current fiscal year and stood at $347.669 million compared to $357.267 in the corresponding period in 2022. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the petroleum group imports witnessed a decrease of 2.11 per cent during December 2023 as compared to the same month of last year, from $ 1,585.252 million to $1,551.870 million. On a month-on-month basis, the petroleum imports into the country increased by 8.91 per cent during December 2023, compared to the imports of $1,424.903 million in November 2023, according to the PBS data.