The exports of rice surged by 19.04 percent during the first four months of the current financial year 2021-22 as compared to the corresponding period of the last financial year. According to the data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country exported rice worth $594.528 million during July-October 2021-22 against the exports of $499.442 million during July-October 2020-21. Among the rice commodities, the exports of Basmati rice increased by 27.44 percent as these surged from $161.654 million last year to $206.013 million during the current year. The exports of other rice commodities also grew by 15.02 percent by going up from $337.788 million last year to $388.515 million during the current year, the PBS data revealed. In terms of quantity, the overall rice exports grew by 22.60 percent including Basmati rice by 39.59 percent and other rice commodities by 18.59 percent, the PBS data revealed. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis the rice exports witnessed an increase of 22.99 percent in October 2021 as compared with the export of the same month of last year. The rice exports in October 2021 were recorded at $171.335 million against exports of $139.306 million in October 2020. During the period under review, the exports of basmati rice increased by 28.09 percent whereas that of other rice commodities went up by 20.88 percent. On a month-on-month basis, the rice exports increased by 19.87 percent when compared to the exports of $142.933 million in September 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the Basmati exports grew by 32.19 percent whereas the exports of other rice commodities increased by 28.03 percent. The overall food exports from the country increased by 26.91 percent during the first four months of the current year compared to last year. The food exports from the country were recorded at US $ 1434.398 million during July-October 2021-22 against the exports of US $ 1130.250 million during July-October 2020-21. It is pertinent to mention here that the country’s total merchandise exports surged by 24.94 percent during the first four month of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year. The exports during the period were recorded at $9.462 billion against the exports of US $ 7.573 billion during the same period of last year. On the other hand, the imports into the country also surged by 65.40 percent by growing from $15.176 billion last year to $25.101 billion during the current fiscal year, the PBS data added.