Pakistan’s exports rebounded in January 2026 after five months of sluggish performance, recording a year on year increase of 3.73 percent and a month on month surge of 34.96 percent, reaching 3.06 billion dollars during the first seven months of the 2025–26 fiscal year.
According to provisional data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, this improvement was mainly driven by a sharp rise in exports and a notable decline in imports. As per the Bureau’s monthly foreign trade summary for January 2026, total exports stood at 2.9 billion dollars, compared to 2.27 billion dollars in December 2025.
On a year on year basis, the trade deficit declined by 6.61 percent, falling from 2.918 billion dollars to 2.725 billion dollars, as exports and imports showed mixed performance.
On a month on month basis, exports reached 3.061 billion dollars in January 2026, crossing the 3 billion dollar mark for the first time in Pakistan’s trade history. This represented a strong increase of 34.96 percent compared to December and signaled a clear recovery in external trade.
During the same period, imports declined to 5.786 billion dollars, reflecting a month on month decrease of 4.85 percent, which led to a significant reduction in the monthly trade gap.
On a year on year basis, Pakistan’s external trade position showed slight improvement. Exports rose from 2.951 billion dollars in January 2025 to 3.061 billion dollars in January 2026, an increase of 3.73 percent, while imports fell by 1.41 percent from 5.869 billion dollars to 5.786 billion dollars, resulting in a lower trade deficit.
During the first seven months of fiscal year 2026, total exports stood at 18.195 billion dollars, showing a year on year decline of 7.09 percent, while imports increased to 40.233 billion dollars, up by 9.42 percent.
As a result, the overall trade deficit widened to 22.038 billion dollars, marking an increase of 28.22 percent compared to the same period last year.
Although monthly performance in January was positive, with record exports and declining imports offering encouraging signs, the overall trend reflects structural challenges in Pakistan’s trade sector and continued pressure on the balance of payments.
