Pakistan’s trade deficit widened sharply by 44% in July 2025, as imports grew at nearly twice the rate of exports, putting early pressure on the country’s external balance in the new fiscal year.
According to data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports rose 16.9% year-on-year to $2.7 billion in July, and increased 8.9% compared to June. However, imports surged 29.3% from a year earlier to $5.4 billion, and 12.4% from the previous month, pushing the monthly trade gap to $2.75 billion — up from $1.91 billion in July 2024 and $2.37 billion in June 2025.
For the full fiscal year 2024–25, the trade deficit rose 9.3% to $26.35 billion. Exports increased by 4.5% to $32 billion, while imports climbed 6.6% to $58.4 billion.
The PBS also reported the services trade performance data for July-June 2024-25. According to the trade statistics for international services during this period, local companies imported more services than they exported. The trade deficit in services witnessed a decline of 15.84pc, reaching $2.62 billion in FY25 compared to $3.1 billion in FY24.
In FY25, the economy hired the services of foreign companies for $11 billion and exported services abroad for $8.4 billion. Whereas, in FY24, the country’s services exports were recorded at $7.68 billion, and imports stood at $10.8 billion, representing an increase of 9.23 percent in services exports and a 2.01 percent increase in imports.
Source: The News
