Textile exports witnessed an increase of 9.67 percent during the first half of the current financial year (2024-25) as compared to the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Tuesday.Pakistani cuisine recipes The textile exports from the country were recorded at US $9,084.564 million during July-November (2024-25) against the exports of US $ 8,283.246 million during July-November (2023-24). The textile commodities that contributed in trade growth included cotton cloth the export of which increased by 4.10 percent to $ 964.661 million from $926.677 million while the export of knitwear surged by 16.49 percent to $ 2,565.637 million from $ 2,202.526 million. The other commodities that witnessed growth in trade included bed wear, the export of which rose by 14.75 percent to $ 1,580.203 million from $ 1,377.109 million, towels by 5.97 percent to $ 530.009 million from $ 500.133 million, tents, canvas, and tarpaulin up by 9.55 percent to $ 66.761 million this year compared to the exports of $ 60.940 million last year. Similarly, the export of readymade garments grew by 22.48 percent to $ 2,044.424 million from $ 1,669.251 million, art, silk and synthetic textile rose by 12.58 percent to $ 199.535 million from $177.236 million, made up articles (excl. towels and bed wear) increased by 9.36 percent to $385.877 million from $352.865 million while the export of other textile materials went up by 2.79 percent to $ 364.298 million from $ 354.418 million. The textile commodities that witnessed negative trade growth included raw cotton the exports of which declined by 98.85 percent to $0.616 million from $53.412 million. Likewise, the exports of cotton yarn declined by 37.96 percent to $365.132 million from $588.530 million whereas the export of cotton carded or combed dipped by 100 percent from 0.588 million to zero export during the period under review. The exports of yarn other than cotton yarn also declined by 11 percent to $17.411 million from $19.562 million. Meanwhile, year-on-year basis, the textile exports witnessed an increase of 5.55 percent during December 2024 as compared to the same month of last year. The textile exports from the country during December 2024 were recorded at US $ 1,477.302 million against the exports of US $1,399.652 million in December 2023. On a month-on-month basis, the textile exports from the country witnessed an increase of 1.11 percent during December 2024 as compared to the exports of $ 1,461.070 million recorded in November 2024, according to the data. It is pertinent to mention here that the overall merchandized exports from the country increased by 10.52 percent during the first half of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding months of last year. Exports during July-December (2024-25) were recorded at $16.561 billion against $14.985 billion during July-December (2023-24), according to PBS data. On the other hand, imports into the country went up by 6.11 percent by growing from $26.137 million last year to $27.733 million during the first six months of the current year. Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the months under review was recorded at $11.172 billion against the deficit of $11.152 billion last year, showing a slight increase of 0.18 percent.