ISLAMABAD-The exports of sports goods from the country witnessed decrease of 14.29 per cent during the first four months of the ongoing financial year (2020-21) against the exports of corresponding period of last year. The country exported sports goods worth $87.069 m during July-October (2020-21) against the exports of $101.590 m during July-October (2019-20), showing negative growth of 14.29 per cent, according to the latest data released by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) here on Wednesday. During the period under review, the export of footballs decreased by 25.44 per cent from $57.383 m last year to $42.782 m during current year while the exports of gloves also declined by 16.36 per cent from $27.692 m to $23.161 million. However, the exports of all other sports good witnessed an increase of 27.92 per cent by going up from $16.515 m to $ 21.126 m during the period under review.
  Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of sports products during October 2020 were decreased by 21.46 per cent to $20.387 million when compared to the exports of $25.957 million during October 2019, the PBS data revealed. During the period under review, the exports of footballs and gloves dipped by 32.50 and 17.46 per cent respectively. However, the export of all other sports products increased by 14.49 per cent. On month-on-month basis, the exports of sports products decreased by 4.54 per cent in October 2020 when compared to the exports of $ 21.356 million in September 2020. During the month under review, the exports of footballs decreased by 2.28 per cent while that of gloves increased by 1.1 per cent. The exports of all other sports products witnessed decline of 14.74 per cent during the month, the data revealed. It is pertinent to mention that the country’s merchandize trade deficit witnessed reduction of 1.88 per cent during the first four months of current fiscal year (2020-21) as compared to the deficit of the corresponding period of last year. The deficit during July-October (2020-21) was recorded at $ 7.577 billion as compared to the deficit of $7.722 billion during July-October (2019-20), showing decline of 1.88 per cent. During the period under review, the country’s exports registered positive growth of 0.33 per cent, by going down from $7.529 billion last year to $7.554 billion during the current year. On the other hand, the imports decreased by 0.79 per cent, from $15.251 billion last year to $15.131billion during the current year.