During the first 10 months of the current financial year (2023-24), Pakistan generated $13,683.251 million from textile product exports, as per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) report. However, there was a slight decline of 0.19 percent in textile exports compared to the same period last year, which amounted to $13,709.246 million.
Several textile commodities experienced positive growth in trade. Raw cotton exports surged by 319.91 percent, from $13.357 million to $15.944 million. Cotton yarn exports increased by 32.83 percent, rising from $636.832 million to $845.923 million, while bed wear exports grew by 1.82 percent, from $2,249.778 million to $2,290.796 million. The export of towels also saw a rise of 4.81 percent, from $824.879 million to $864.547 million, and made-up articles increased by 0.67 percent to $589.026 million from $585.102 million.
However, some textile commodities experienced negative growth. Cotton cloth exports decreased by 7.53 percent, from $1,684.724 million to $1,557.909 million, while cotton carded or combed exports fell by 15.93 percent, from $0.996 million to $0.837 million. Yarn other than cotton yarn exports declined by 20.76 percent, from $36.302 million to $28.766 million, and knitwear exports dropped by 3.92 percent, from $3,712.066 million to $3,566.624 million.
Additionally, exports of tents, canvas, and tarpaulin decreased by 16.52 percent, from $116.959 million to $97.632 million, and ready-made garments declined by 0.57 percent, from $2,904.693 million to $2,888.177 million. Art, silk, and synthetic textiles exports decreased by 12.08 percent, from $342.917 million to $301.496 million, while exports of all other textile materials went down by 0.87 percent, from $600.642 million to $595.432 million.
Year-on-year, textile exports increased by 0.37 percent, rising from $1,232.803 million in April 2023 to $1,237.316 million in April 2024. However, month-on-month textile exports decreased by 4.84 percent compared to exports of $1,300.288 million in March 2024.