ISLAMABAD - Rice exports from the country during the first 10 months of the current financial year grew by 80.13 per cent as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
During the period from July-April, 2023-24, over 5.097 million metric tons of rice worth $3.282 billion was exported as compared to the exports of 3.270 million metric tons valued at $1.822 million of the same period of last year, according to the data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The exports of Basmati rice grew by 34.01 percent as 612,086 metric tons of Basmati rice worth $699.208 million was exported as compared to the exports of 486,998 metric tons valued at $521.751 million of the same period last year, it added.
Meanwhile, over 4.474 million metric tons of rice of other varieties worth $2.583 billion was also exported in last 10 months as against the exports of 2.783 million metric tons valued at $1.300 billion of the same period of last year, the data revealed. The exports of other rice witnessed about 98.64 percent growth during the period under review as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of the last year. In the last 10 months, the exports of the food group witnessed about 45.61 percent growth as food commodities valued at $6.228 billion were exported as against the exports of $4.277 billion in the same period of the last year, it added.
On the other hand, the imports of food goods into the country during the period under review went down by 12.18 percent as it was recorded at $6.817 billion as compared to the imports of $7.762 billion in the same period of last year. On month on month basis, the imports of food commodities grew by 22.82 percent as food commodities costing 527.026 million were imported in April 2024 as compared to the imports of $429.114 million of the same month of the previous year.
Meanwhile, Pakistan earned $2.283 billion by providing different information technology (IT) services to various countries during the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2023-24. This shows a growth of 17.40 per cent as compared with the $1.944 billion earned through the provision of services during the corresponding months of the last fiscal year 2022-23, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported.
During the months under review, the export of computer services grew by 19.99 per cent as it surged from $1.567 billion last year to $1.880 billion during July-March 2023-24. Among the computer services, the exports of software consultancy services witnessed an increase of 7.72 per cent, from $572.941 million to $617.183 million this year while the export of hardware consultancy services also surged by 22.07 per cent, from $4.091 million to $4.994 million. The export of repair and maintenance services however decreased by 46.41 per cent from $2.713 million to $1.4564 million whereas the export and imports of computer software services surged by 3.64 per cent, from $445.576 million to $461.795 million.
Meanwhile, the export of information services during the months under review witnessed an increase of 88.21 per cent, rising from $3.900 million to $7.340 million. Among the information services, the exports of news agency services surged by 177.31 per cent, from $2.287 million to $6.342 million whereas the exports of information-related services decreased by 38.13 per cent, from $1.613 million to $0.998 million. The export of telecommunication services increased by 5.76 per cent as these went up from $373.310 million to $394.800 million, the data revealed. Among the telecommunication services, the export of call centres services increased by 17.93 percent during the months as its exports increased from $162.471 million to $191.599 million whereas the export of other telecommunication services witnessed a decrease of 3.62 per cent, from $210.839 million to $203.201 million during this year, the PBS data revealed.