Pakistan’s textile sector recorded a very slight expansion in its overall export earnings for the fiscal year ending in June 2026, even as the final month of the year witnessed a considerable slowdown in shipment values. According to the latest trade statistics released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the total value of outbound textile shipments reached seventeen point nine three billion dollars for the fiscal year 2025-26. This represents a marginal increase of zero point double six percent compared to the seventeen point eight nine billion dollars recorded during the previous fiscal year. While this positive annual figure indicates that the country managed to keep its primary manufacturing sector stable over the twelve-month period, the monthly statistics point to emerging pressures in international demand and local production dynamics.
The monthly trade figures for the month of June 2026 reveal a stark contrast to the steady annual performance. On a yearly basis, textile exports for June experienced a substantial contraction of sixteen point seventy-one percent, falling to one point two seven billion dollars compared to the same month last year. The downward trend was even more visible when analyzed on a month-on-month basis. Compared to the one point six four billion dollars registered in May 2026, outbound shipments of textiles fell by twenty-two point seventy-two percent in June. Despite this sudden drop in value, the textile sector maintained its dominant position in the country’s trade profile, accounting for fifty-three point fifty-two percent of the total national exports during the final month of the fiscal year.
A closer look at the specific products within the textile category shows that almost all primary manufacturing lines suffered notable declines during June. Knitwear led the group’s exports with total shipments valued at three hundred and sixty-four point fifteen million dollars, though this figure represents a drop of nineteen point ninety-nine percent compared to the previous year. Similarly, outbound shipments of readymade garments slipped by twelve point forty-three percent to clock in at three hundred and fifteen point thirty-four million dollars. The inflows from bed wear items also experienced a major downturn, decreasing by twenty-three point twenty-nine percent to register at two hundred and nine point sixty-eight million dollars, showing that local manufacturers faced highly competitive or shrinking conditions in key global marketplaces during the early summer.
While textiles experienced a challenging month, the agricultural and food group continued to serve as the second largest contributor to Pakistan’s overall export revenue. In June 2026, food exports reached four hundred and nineteen point sixteen million dollars, which represents a healthy fourteen percent increase compared to the three hundred and sixty-seven point sixty-nine million dollars recorded in June 2025. However, the cumulative picture for the entire fiscal year was less positive. Across the whole of the fiscal year 2025-26, overall earnings from food shipments fell by twenty-nine point forty-nine percent, dropping to five point zero two billion dollars from seven point twelve billion dollars in the previous fiscal year.
Within the agricultural segment, rice remained the primary driver of foreign exchange earnings. In June 2026, rice exports reached two hundred and thirteen point seventy-three million dollars, marking an increase of seven point eighty-nine percent from the previous month and a strong forty-two point sixty-seven percent rise compared to June of the previous year. Another high-performing agricultural subsector was oil seeds, nuts, and kernels, which reached fourteen point seventy-five million dollars in June. This category grew seventy-seven point six percent on a year-on-year basis, although it saw a forty-one point seventy-eight percent drop from the twenty-five point thirty-three million dollars recorded in May 2026.
Other traditional manufacturing sectors also experienced downward pressure during the final month of the fiscal year. Outbound shipments of surgical goods and medical instruments fell by seventeen point eighteen percent year-on-year to thirty-two point zero four million dollars. Leather manufacturers recorded a twenty point thirty-eight percent drop, ending the month at forty point forty-one million dollars. Sports goods also saw foreign earnings drop by twenty-eight point zero eight percent year-on-year to twenty-six point sixteen million dollars, which was also a thirty-five point zero four percent drop from the forty point twenty-eight million dollars earned in May. Chemical and pharmaceutical shipments fell by six point zero four percent to one hundred and ten point seventy-five million dollars compared to the same period last year. On a positive note, petroleum products stood out with a thirteen point forty-four percent year-on-year increase, bringing in seventy point thirteen million dollars in export revenue.
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