China emerges as top trading partner for Pakistan as exports to high-priced western markets decline

Pakistan’s exports to high-priced European and North American markets fell in the first half of the 2023/24 fiscal year, while China remained its top trading partner, data from the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP) showed on Monday.

Exports to the United States, traditionally one of Pakistan’s biggest markets, did not rank among the top 25 destinations in the six months to December, according to the TDAP review of external trade.

According to review, Chinese market remained the biggest market for the Pakistani, which imported 66 percent higher goods from Pakistan in July-December of this fiscal.

On the other hand, exports to United Kingdom (UK) posted growth of six percent in the first six months. The exports to most of the members of European Union (EU) countries showed negative growth in the period.

The review showed that exports to Germany fell by fourteen percent and exports to Netherlands sharply declined by 14.5 percent in the months under review. Exports to Italy posted negative growth of 5.3 percent and it fell by 1.2 percent to Spain.

Exports to France and Belgium posted negative growth of 7 and 9.5 percent respectively whereas exports to Denmark rose by nine percent during the period under review.

Country’s exports to Middle East market showed mixed performance as the exports to Saudi Arabia recorded substantial growth of 27 percent, however fell by over five percent to United Arab Emirates.

In South Asian region, country’s exports to Afghanistan fell by over five percent and down by over three percent to Bangladesh. Exports to Sri Lanka posted growth of two percent.

In Far East market, exports to Japan fell by over ten percent and were up by fifty six percent to Philippines. Exports to Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam showed growth of 190, 100 and 79 percent respectively.

In African market, exports to Tanzania were up by 47 percent and fell by 4.5 percent to Kenya in the first half of this financial year.

During the first half of this financial year, the total exports of the country recorded 5.17 percent growth to $ 14.981 billion compared to $14.244 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal.

The major commodities exported included textile & leather, down by six percent, agro & food up by 39 percent, minerals & petroleum up by 9.5 percent, metals, gems & other precious metals up by 33 percent and chemical, fertilizer & pharma down by 18.8 percent in the first half of this financial year.