ISLAMABAD - The exports of rice surged by 10.73 per cent during the first half of the current financial year (2021-22) as compared to the exports of the corresponding period of last year.
Pakistan exported rice worth $1066.769 million during July-December (2021-22) against the exports of $963.379 million during July-December (2020-21), showing growth of 10.73 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). Among the rice commodities, the exports of Basmati rice increased by 33.14 percent as these surged from $228.370 million last year to $304.043 million during the current year. The exports of other rice commodities also grew by 3.77 percent by going up from $735.009 million last year to $762.726 million during the current year, the PBS data revealed. In terms of quantity, the overall rice exports grew by 12.54 percent including Basmati rice by 47.39 percent and other rice commodities by 7.51 percent, the PBS data revealed.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the rice exports witnessed an increase of 3.26 percent in December 2021 as compared with the export of the same month of last year. The rice exports in December 2021 were recorded at $240.260 million against exports of $232.676 million in December 2020. During the period under review, the exports of Basmati rice increased by 54.25 percent , however, the exports of other rice verities declined 4.82 percent.
On month-on-month basis, the rice exports increased by 3.60 percent as compared to the exports of $231.908 million in November 2021. On month-on-month basis, the Basmati rice exports witnessed decline of 12.94 percent, however that of other rice verities increased by 8.92 percent. The overall food exports increased by 22.28 percent during the first half of current year as compared to last year. The food exports of the country were recorded at $2482.704 million during July-December (2021-22) against the exports of $2030.322 million during July-December (2020-21).
It is pertinent to mention here that the overall exports of the country during the first half of current financial year witnessed an increase of 24.71% by going up to $15.102 billion as compared with the exports of $12.110 billion of last year. The imports also registered about 65.94% growth as these went up from $24.454 billion in 1st  half of the last year to $40.580 billion during current year, the PBS data revealed.