The country’s non-textile exports have jumped by 24.28 percent year on year to $9.11 billion during the first nine months of the current financial year (9MFY22) because of a partial recovery of international orders and the government’s support schemes.
According to the data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), mainly the growth in the non-textile sector is led by the value-added sectors however, the non-textile sector has yet to get full orders to pre-Covid levels.
In FY21, three sectors i.e. leather garments, surgical instruments, and engineering goods have managed to maintain growth in export profits in spite of lockdowns in many countries.
Meanwhile, in the value-added leather sector, exports of leather garments rose 7.95 percent and leather gloves 8.74 percent. On contrary, the exports of raw leather went by over 36.35 percent in the first nine months (July-March) last year.
Pakistan is one of the leading suppliers of international surgical instruments. Though, these instruments are re-marketed in western countries by well-known brands. Consequently, the export value of these products remains very negligible.
Read more: Non-textile exports grow 23% to $5.75 billion in 1HFY22
Conversely, the export of surgical instruments recorded negative growth of 5.13 percent in 9MFY22 over the same period in FY21. Similarly, the exports of pharmaceutical products also posted negative growth of 3.25 percent during the period under review.
However, the export of footwear went up by 17.92 percent year-on-year led by leather and canvas footwear. The export of engineering products increased by 2.80 percent year-on-year in FY22. But, the export of electric fans dropped 2.12 percent during the year under review.
The PBS data further revealed that the export of carpets climbed up by 12.28 percent, and sports goods by 35.23 percent in the first nine months this year as compared to the previous year. In the sports sector, the sales of footballs went up 40.33 percent in July-March this year from a year ago.
In the budget 2021-22, the government had suggested numerous measures comprising a reduction in duty on raw materials to enhance exports of plastic, chemicals, pharmaceutical, engineering, and value-added textile products.
