Exports of vegetables and fruits have surged by 31.21 percent and 8.61 percent respectively during the fiscal year 2012-13 against the corresponding period of last year.
Exports of vegetables during July-June (2012-13) were recorded at $236.383 million against the exports of $180.163 million during July-June (2011-12), according to data provided by Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
The vegetable exports increased by 38.25 percent, from 523,863 metric tonnes to 724,258 metric tonnes.
On the other hand, the exports of fruits during the period under review increased from $358.255 million to $389.091 million, showing increase of 8.61 percent.
In terms of quantity, the exports of fruits increased from 737,029 metric tons to 709,980 metric tons, witnessing decrease of 3.67 percent, the PBS data revealed.
Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of fruits during July 2013 increased by 77.48 percent as compared to the exports of the same month of last year.
Exports during June 2013 were recorded at $34.378 million against the exports of $19.370 million during June 2012, according to the data.
On month-on-month basis, the exports of fruits increased by 143.83 percent in June 2013 as compared to the exports of $19.370 during May 2013.
However, the vegetable exports during June 2013 decreased by 28.10 percent to $13.258 million as compared to the exports of $18.439 million in June 2012.
On the other hand, the exports in June 2013 increased by 38.75 percent as compared to the exports of $9.555 million recorded during May 2013, according to the PBS data.
It is pertinent to mention here that the food exports from the country increased by 11.35 percent to $4.7 billion during the fiscal year 2012-13 as compared to the corresponding period of last year.
The food exports from the country during July-June (2012-13) were recorded at $4.732 billion against the exports of $4.249 recorded during July-June (2011-12).
The overall food and non-food exports from the country witnessed positive growth of 3.78 percent in fiscal year 2012-13 against the last fiscal year and the trade deficit during the period narrowed by 4.02 percent.
Exports during July-June (2012-13) were recorded at $24.518 billion against the exports of $23.624 billion recorded during July-June (2011-12), showing positive growth of 3.78 percent.
On the other hand, the imports into the country witnessed very nominal increase of 0.08 percent by going up from $44.912 billion last year to $44.950 billion during fiscal year 2012-13, the data revealed.
Based on these figures, the overall trade deficit during 2012-13 stood at $20.432 billion against the deficit of $21.288 billion in 2011-12, showing negative growth of 4.02 percent.