Pakistan is officially known as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and located in South Asia.
It is one of the
most populous countries in the world. Pakistan has 24th largest economy in the world in terms of
purchasing power and 42nd in terms of nominal GDP. According to world economic outlook database,
Pakistan’s total GDP amounted to USD 1.01 trillion in 2016 and exports represent just 1.8% of the
country’s economic output.
Pakistan exports of goods worth USD 20.53 billion in 2016. As per Pakistan export statistics, its top 10
exports accounted for 62% of the overall value of its global shipments. However, Pakistan export is very
less than its import and recorded USD 26 billion of trade deficit in 2016. What does Pakistan export?
Pakistan export is continued by dominating cotton textile and apparel. The following export product
groups represent the highest export sales in Pakistan’s global shipments in 2016.
· Textiles · Cotton · Knitted Clothing · Not Knitted
Clothing · Cereals · Articles of Leather · Salt, Lime &
Cement · Edible Fruits & Nuts · Optical · Leather
We at Export Genius providing the import export data of more than 60 countries apart from Pakistan.
Find out genuine importers and exporters of any particular product from the global market. In this
article, we are discussing the trade of top five export products of Pakistan.
1. Miscellaneous textiles articles and worn clothing
The country’s top export product is textile including bed linens, table linens, bathroom & kitchen linen of
all types of textile materials. This product category is classified under HS Code 63 which also includes
other made up textile articles, worn clothing and worn textile articles. Pakistan textile exports stood at
USD 3803 million during 2016 and also recorded export growth of 3% of value during 2012-2016. USA
and United Kingdom are the main markets for Pakistan’s textile products. In miscellaneous textile
category, other export of Pakistan includes curtains, tarpaulins, sacks & bags, blankets, rope etc. It has
seen a decline of 30% in export sales of interior furnishing articles during 2015-16 while the demand for
tarpaulins from Pakistan is increased by 26% during the same period.
2. Cotton
Cotton exports from Pakistan to the world worth USD 3497 million in 2016 which represented 6.6% of
the global exports of this product. The country is the fourth largest cotton exporting country in the
world after China, India and USA. China and Bangladesh are the main markets for Pakistan cotton
exports. In import export business, cotton is classified under HS Code 52. Cotton yarn is the top export
of Pakistan in this category but the demand of this product is declined by 22% of value in the global
market during 2015-16. The other types of cotton products that Pakistan exports include woven fabrics,
cotton waste, not carded cotton and cotton sewing thread.
3. Knitted & not knitted of clothing accessories
The third and fourth largest exports of Pakistan i.e. knitted clothing and not-knitted clothing accessories
which mainly classified under HS Code 61 and HS Code 62. Pakistan export sales of knitted clothing and
not-knitted clothing stood at USD 2347 million and USD 2253 million in 2016 respectively. Men’s or boys
suits, pantyhose, T-shirts, jerseys, pullovers, girl’s suits, gloves, underpants etc. are the textile clothing
accessories that Pakistan exports in the global market. United States is the top textile buyer of Pakistan
and the country did 40% of the textile export sales from USA only during the same period. In last five
years, Spain, Germany and Belgium are the growing markets for textile articles from Pakistan.
4. Cereals
The cereals export from Pakistan stood at USD 1717 million in 2016 and China, Kenya, UAE and
Afghanistan are the main markets of Pakistan for this product. Cereal is classified under HS Code 10 and
rice is the major export in this category. Pakistan is the world’s 5th largest rice exporter country after
India, Thailand, USA and Vietnam. Rice export from Pakistan recorded 99% value of the cereals exports.
However, rice export sales of this country is declined by 12% during 2015-16. Maize, wheat & meslin,
buckwheat, rye, oats and barley are the other cereals products that are also exported by Pakistan to
other countries.
5. Articles of Leather
Pakistan is one of the biggest countries in the world that exports leather articles. It recorded USD 644
million from export of this product in 2016. Germany, USA and Spain are the main markets for Pakistan’s
leather products. These products are mainly classified under HS Code 42 including composition leather,
trunks, suitcases, travel goods, saddlery, harness for animals, gut articles etc. Pakistan exports sales of
this product is slightly declined (2%) in last five years.
The latest available country-specific data shows that 69.7% of products exported from Pakistan were
bought by importers in: United States of America (21.1% of the Pakistani total), mainland China
(10.5%), United Kingdom (7.3%), Germany (5.4%), Netherlands (4.9%), United Arab Emirates (4.1%),
Spain (3.5%), Italy (3.1%), Afghanistan (2.9%), Bangladesh (2.8%), Belgium (2.5%) and France (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 35% of Pakistan’s exports by value were delivered to European
countries while 34.2% were sold to importers in Asia. Pakistan shipped another 22.8% worth of goods to
North America.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (5.2%), Latin America (1.6%) excluding Mexico but including the
Caribbean, then Oceania (1.3%) led by Australia.
Given Pakistan’s population of 222.6 million people, its total $28.9 billion in 2021 exports translates to
$130 for every resident in the densely populated South Asian nation. That dollar metric exceeds the
average $100 per capita in 2020.
Pakistan’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Pakistani global shipments
during 2021. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall
exports from Pakistan.
Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: US$5.5 billion (19.1% of total exports)
Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $4.5 billion (15.6%)
Cotton: $3.4 billion (11.8%)
Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $3.4 billion (11.8%)
Cereals: $2.3 billion (7.8%)
Copper: $818.3 million (2.8%)
Leather/animal gut articles: $697.6 million (2.4%)
Fruits, nuts: $492.9 million (1.7%)
Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $484.7 million (1.7%)
Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $437 million (1.5%)
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