Services exports from Pakistan increased by 6% in the first quarter of FY 2024–2025.

In September, services exports totaled $656.99 million, an increase of more than 17%. Significant growth in the IT sector is the primary driver of the rise in service exports.

It is noteworthy to highlight that, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country’s exports in rupee terms increased by 9.57% in the first four months of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period previous year.

According to PBS’s provisional estimates, exports during July–October (2024–25) totaled Rs3,029,329 million, up 9.57% from Rs. 2,764,712 million during the same period last year.

When compared to October 2023 exports of Rs 753,767 million, October 2024 exports increased 9.91% year over year to Rs 789,220 million.

Compared to September 2024’s exports of Rs 789,220 million, October 2024’s exports grew 4.97 percent on a month-over-month basis.

Knitwear (Rs136,359 million), ready-made clothing (Rs100,547 million), rice (Rs81,544 million), bed linens (Rs76,281 million), cotton fabric (Rs43,251 million), towels (Rs.26,419 million), oil seeds, uuts, and kernals (Rs.26,289 million), makeup items (including towels and bed linens) (Rs.20,198 million), basmati rice (Rs19,064 million), and cotton yarn (Rs16,433 million) were the top export commodities in October 2024.

However, imports during July–October 2024 (FY2024–25) amounted to Rs. 4,999,923 million, a 2.23% rise over the Rs. 4,891,055 million during the same period previously.

October 2024 imports into Pakistan totaled Rs 1,274,823 million, down 1.59% from September 2024 and 6.49% from October 2023. In contrast, September 2024 imports totaled Rs 1,295,455 million, and October 2023 imports totaled Rs1,363,293 million.

In October 2024, the following commodities were imported: petroleum products (Rs. 110,620 million), petroleum crude (Rs. 85,050 million), palm oil (Rs. 76,730 million), natural gas liquified (Rs. 77,451 million), plastic materials (Rs. 62,643 million), iron and steel (Rs. 57,890 million), electrical machinery & apparatus (Rs. 50,421 million), mobile phones (Rs. 48,408 million), manufactured fertilizer (Rs. 32,568 million), and iron and steel scrap (Rs. 28,200 million).