March 12, 2012

During the first seven months of the current year over the corresponding period of last year, Pakistan's fish and fish preparations exports from the country increased by 15.27%.

Fish exports worth US$175.011 million were recorded during July-January (2011-12) against the exports of US$151.833 million during July-January (2010-11), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data revealed.

In terms of quantity, the exports of fish increased from 66,593 tonnes last year to 67,448 tonnes, showing an increase of 1.28%.

During the month of January 2012, the exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 7.58% when compared to the exports of the same month of last year.

The seafood exports during January 2012 stood at US$21.401 million against the exports of US$19.893 million during January 2011.

However, as compared to the exports of US$27.927 million during December 2011, the seafood exports during January 2012 declined by 23.37%, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall food exports from the country increased by 4.89% during the first seven months of the current fiscal year to reach at US$2.241 billion as compared to the exports of US$2.136 billion during the same period of last year.

The overall exports from the country witnessed growth of 0.25% during the period as exports from the country stood at US$13.155 billion against the exports of US$13.122 billion last year.

On the other hand, the imports into the country increased by 16.77% from US$22.546 billion to US$26.327 billion during the current year. Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period stood at US$13.172 billion against the deficit of US$9.424 billion last year, showing an increase of 39.77%.