The food exports from the country surged by 26.68 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. The food group exports during July-November (2021-22) were recorded at $1,947.414 million as against the exports of $1,537.317 million in July-November (2020-21), according to the PBS data. The commodities that contributed to the positive growth of food group trade included rice, the exports of which grew by 13.07 percent, from $730.703 million last year to $826.216 million during the current fiscal year. Among the rice commodities, the exports of Basmati rice increased by 32.99 percent from $196.534 million to $261.364 million and other rice commodities by 5.74 percent, from $534.169 million to $564.852 million. Likewise, the exports of fruits increased by 27.69 percent, from $138.859 million to $177.316 million, vegetables by 31.47 percent, from $77.146 million to $101.423 million, tobacco by 26.96 percent, from $12.744 million to $16.180 million whereas the exports of spices went up by 29.63 percent, from $31.357 million to $40.648 million. The exports of oilseeds, nuts, and kernels also went up 478.77 percent from $22.476 million to $130.085 million whereas the exports of meat and meat preparations increased by 0.10 percent, from $133.575 million to $133.714 million and other food items by 65.95 percent, from $223.755 million to $371.330 million. The only food product that witnessed negative growth in trade included fish and fish preparations, the exports of which declined by 9.72 percent, from $166.702 million to $150.502 million. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the food exports from the country increased by 26.44 percent from $407.079 million in November 2020 to $514.697 million in November 2021. On a month-on-month basis, the exports from the country witnessed positive growth of 24.61 percent in November when compared to the exports of $413.036 million in October 2021. It is pertinent to mention here that the overall exports from the country witnessed an increase of 26.89 percent during the first five months of the current fiscal year (2021-22) as compared to the corresponding months of last year. According to the PBS data, the exports from the country were recorded at $12.364 billion during July-November (2021-22) against the exports of $9.744 billion recorded during July-November (2020-21), showing a growth of 26.89 percent. The imports during the months under review also went up by 69.57 percent by growing from $19.468 billion last year to $33.012 billion in July-November (2021-22). Based on the data, the trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $20.648 billion, showing an increase of 112.34 percent over the deficit of $9.724 billion recorded during July-November (2020-21).