Pakistan’s textile exports declined 16 per cent in December 2022. Coupled with the decline in value terms, volumetric sales abroad were also reduced.

Textile is Pakistan’s top foreign exchange earner and occupies over a three-fifth share in the country’s total exports.This has been the third month in a row that the country’s textile exports have declined. In October 2022, textile exports declined 15 percent and in November 2022 18 percent. Exports of all categories of textiles including cotton cloth, cotton yarn, knitwear, bedwear, and towels have shrunk sizably. In December 2022, cotton cloth exports dipped by 14 percent compared to December 2021, while over the previous month’s exports they increased by five percent.

Likewise, over the corresponding month of last year, exports of knitwear in December 2022 declined by 19 percent, bedwear fell by 17 percent, towels by 14 percent, readymade garments by seven percent and cotton yarn by 50 percent. In the first half of this fiscal year total textile exports were down by seven percent over the same period of last year’s exports. In December 2022, the economy imported 57 percent less machinery as against December 2021.