Pharmaceutical exports increase 5% in 1st half of FY 2019-20
ISLAMABAD: Exports of pharmaceutical goods from the country witness an increase of 5.27 percent during the first half of current financial year (2019-20) compared to the export of corresponding period of last year.
The pharmaceutical exports were recorded at $112.099 million during July-December (2019-20) as against the export of $106.486 million during July-December (2018-19), showing growth of 5.27 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). In term of quantity, the export of pharmaceutical products also increased by 11.68 percent by going up from 6,243 metric ton to 6,972 metric ton, according to the data.
Meanwhile, year- on-year basis the pharmaceutical export however witness decline of 8.41 percent during the month of December 2019 compared to the same month of last year.
The pharmaceutical exports in December 2019 were recorded at $19.384 million against the export of $21.163 million in December 2018, the PBS data revealed.
On month-on-month basis, the exports of pharmaceutical products decrease by 1.03 percent in December 2019 when compared to $19.586 million in November 2019.
It is pertinent to mention here that the country's merchandise trade deficit plunged by 33.67 percent during the first six months of the current fiscal year (2019-20) as compared to the deficit of the same month of last year.
The trade deficit during July-December (2019-20) was recorded at $ 11.628 billion against the deficit of $16.771 billion during July-December (2018-19), the data revealed.
The exports during the period increased from $ 11.181 billion during last year to $11.535 billion during the current fiscal year, showing growth of 3.17 percent.
On the other hand, the imports into the country witnessed decline of 17.13 percent by falling from $ 27.952 billion last year to $23.163 billion during the current fiscal year, the data revealed. - APP