Pakistan exported textiles and garments worth US$ 4.691 billion during the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year 2013-14 that started on July 1, 2013, showing a rise of 7.55 percent over exports of US$ 4.361 billion made during the corresponding period of last year, according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

From January to October 2013, Pakistan’s raw cotton exports surged by 43.27 percent year-on-year to US$ 81.556 million, while its bed wear exports grew by 21.08 percent year-on-year to US$ 727.306 million, PBS data showed.

However, major earnings for Pakistan were from cotton fabric, which fetched US$ 946.601 million growing at 5.2 percent year-on-year, followed by knitwear, which earned US$ 763.865 million rising at 1.51 percent year-on-year, and cotton yarn, which brought US$ 758.363 million in foreign exchange showing a rise of 6.39 percent year-on-year.

During the four-month period, Pakistan’s readymade garment exports increased by 7.96 percent year-on-year to US$ 620.763 million.

The textile exports as a whole increased by mere 0.40 percent year-on-year in October 2013 to US$ 1.114 billion, with a major dip of 50.35 percent year-on-year seen in export of cotton.

Meanwhile, Pakistan imported US$ 701.427 million worth of textiles during the four-month period, registering a slight decline of 0.92 percent year-on-year.

Synthetic fibre imports by Pakistan were valued at US$ 126.523 million, while synthetic and artificial silk yarn imports cost US$ 177.469 million, during the period under review.

During last fiscal year which ended on June 30, 2013, textile and clothing exports from Pakistan grew by 5.9 percent from US$ 12.34 billion in 2011-12 to US$ 13.06 billion.