KARACHI: Pakistan’s trade deficit surged by more than 30%, reaching $2.87 billion in August 2025, compared to the same month in the previous year, data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed.
In August 2024, the trade balance recorded a deficit of $2.20 billion. The widening of the trade gap in August 2025 was driven by higher imports and a decrease in exports.
Exports for August 2025 were recorded at $2.42 billion, reflecting a 12.5% decline compared to $2.76 billion in August 2024. On the other hand, imports rose by over 6%, reaching $5.29 billion, up from $4.96 billion in the same period last year.
On a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit narrowed by 9% in August 2025 compared to $3.14 billion in July 2025.
In the first two months of the fiscal year 2025-26 (2MFY26), the trade deficit increased by more than 29% to $6.01 billion, compared to $4.66 billion in the same period last year.
Exports during 2MFY26 saw a slight increase of 0.6%, reaching $5.1 billion from $5.06 billion in the previous year. Meanwhile, imports rose by 14%, reaching $11.12 billion compared to $9.73 billion in 2MFY25.
