Pakistan's trade deficit widens 19.7% to USD 3.88 billion in October
Imports rise 11.8% year over year, outpacing export growth of 2.8%, while the July-October FY27 trade deficit increases 16%
Taha Jaffry
Producer, Business Desk
Taha Jaffry is a journalist and editor with experience in digital news publishing. Before joining Nukta, he worked as a Sub Editor at Geo.tv/Interlink Multimedia, affiliated with Geo News, for around two years, following an earlier stint at The Express Tribune.
Cargo containers being handled at Karachi Port. Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit widened to USD 3.877 billion in October 2026.
Karachi Port Trust
Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit widened 19.7% year over year to USD 3.877 billion in October 2026 as imports grew faster than exports, highlighting mounting pressure on the country's external trade balance.
According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) figures, the trade deficit also increased 10.3% month over month from USD 3.515 billion in September.
What drove the widening trade deficit in October?
Imports increased 11.8% year over year to USD 6.806 billion in October, compared with USD 6.087 billion a year earlier. Exports, meanwhile, edged up 2.8% to USD 2.929 billion from USD 2.848 billion. The faster growth in imports widened the trade gap despite an improvement in export receipts.
In absolute terms, imports increased by USD 719 million from October 2025, while exports grew by just USD 81 million. Consequently, the monthly trade deficit was USD 638 million higher than the USD 3.239 billion recorded a year earlier.
On a month-over-month basis, imports rose 5.7% from USD 6.438 billion in September, while exports increased marginally by 0.2% from USD 2.923 billion.
The monthly figures show that imports increased by USD 368 million from September, compared with an increase of just USD 6 million in exports, pushing the trade deficit up by USD 362 million.
How did trade perform during the first four months of FY27?
During July-October FY27, Pakistan's merchandise trade deficit expanded 16% to USD 14.628 billion, compared with USD 12.614 billion in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Cumulative exports increased 8.5% to USD 11.336 billion from USD 10.446 billion a year earlier. However, imports rose at a faster pace, increasing 12.6% to USD 25.964 billion from USD 23.060 billion.
In absolute terms, imports increased by USD 2.904 billion during the four-month period, while exports grew by USD 890 million.
The difference widened the cumulative trade deficit by USD 2.014 billion compared with July-October FY26, despite the increase in export receipts.
The figures highlight the continued imbalance between Pakistan's import spending and export earnings, with import growth outpacing exports on both a monthly and cumulative fiscal-year basis.
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