Pakistan’s Services Exports Rise by 6.16% Despite Growing Trade Deficit

KARACHI: Pakistan’s services exports saw a 6.16% growth, reaching $4.748 billion in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, compared to $4.472 billion in the same period last year. This rise, as reported by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, was mainly fueled by the telecommunications, computer, and IT services sectors, which expanded by 26.49% to $2.177 billion.

In January alone, services exports amounted to $691.62 million, marking a 1.51% year-on-year increase. However, some sectors faced declines, with transport services exports dropping by 6.94% to $509 million and travel services shrinking by 3.61% to $427 million. On the other hand, other business services managed a slight growth of 3.20%, totaling $967 million.

Despite the positive trend in Pakistan’s services exports, the trade deficit in this segment widened by 17.27% to $1.929 billion during July-January, compared to $1.645 billion in the same period last year. This was largely due to a 9.15% rise in services imports, which reached $6.678 billion, driven by higher expenditures on transport and travel.

Transport services imports increased by 8.13% to $2.951 billion, while travel services imports rose by 5.92% to $1.358 billion, reflecting higher costs of air travel. In January alone, services imports grew by 3.84% to $1.005 billion.

The data highlights that while Pakistan’s services exports, particularly in IT and telecom, are showing strong growth, the rising import expenses for transport and travel continue to expand the trade deficit.