Islamabad October 4 2021: PAKISTAN’S trade deficit nearly doubled to USD 4.1 billion in September 2021 from USD 2.4 billion a year ago on a major surge in imports, which spiked by 51 percent to USD 6.5 billion, according to data shared by the Pakistan Bereau of Statistics.
The trade gap expanded owing to increased import of petroleum products, food, machinery, raw materials, chemicals, mobiles, tyres, antibiotics and vaccines.
The data shows that export shipments rose by 26 percent compared to the same month last year.
According to the consolidated trade data for the period between July and September, the country’s trade gap has expanded by 100 percent to USD 11.7 billion year-on-year as imports swelled by 65 percent to USD 18.6 billion while exports rose by 27 percent to USD 7.0 billion.
However, trade deficit dropped 5.4 percent compared to the previous month as exports increased by 5.9 percent to USD 2.4 billion during September and imports dropped by 1.5 percent to USD 6.5 billion.
