Pakistan’s cotton production declined 35 per cent to 5.57 million bales till January 31, 2021. The country had produced 8.487 million bales of cotton during the same period last year. This decline is attributed to climate change and increase in the sugarcane production area, wiping a vast area of the cotton belt.

Of the total production, textile mills bought 5.046 million bales while 70,200 bales were picked up by exporters. Currently, only 90 ginning mills are functioning in Pakistan. Cotton production in Pakistan is integral to the economic development of the country. The nation is largely dependent on the cotton industry and its related textile sector, and the crop has been given a principal status in the country.

Cotton is grown as an industrial crop in 15 per cent of the nation's land during the monsoon months of May to August, known as the Kharif period, and is grown at a smaller scale between February and April. Record production of cotton was reported at 15 million bales of 470 pounds each in the form of phutti during 2014–15, which was an 11 per cent rise compared to the previous season.