ISLAMABAD: The tea imports witnessed an increase of 8.17 percent during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The tea imports during July-May (2021-22) were recorded at $580.911 million against the imports of $537.010 million during July-May (2020-21), according to data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). In terms of quantity, the tea imports decreased by 2.04 percent during the period under review as these went down from 238.941 metric tons last year to 234.062 metric tons during the current fiscal year, the data revealed. The overall food imports increased by 11.93 percent from $7,550 million last year to $8,450 million during the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the tea imports declined by 1.05 percent during the month of May 2022 as compared to the same month of last year. The tea imports during May 2022 were recorded at $48.519 million against the imports of $49.033 million in May 2021. On month-on-month basis, the tea imports however increased by 7.11 percent in May 2022 as compared to the imports of $45.299 million in April 2022, the data revealed. It is pertinent to mention here that during the first eleven months, the overall merchandize imports went up by 44.28 percent by growing from $50.028 billion during July-May (2020-21) to $72.182 billion in July-May (2021-22). The exports also witnessed an increase of 27.78 percent and were recorded at $28.848 billion during the period against the exports of $22.576 billion recorded last year. Based on the data, the overall trade deficit during the period under review was recorded at $43.334 billion, showing an increase of 57.85 percent over the deficit of $27.452 billion recorded during last year, the PBS data revealed.