Pakistan’s trade deficit widened sharply by nearly 24% year-on-year to $3.7 billion in December 2025, driven by a steep decline in exports and a modest rise in imports, official data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) showed on Friday.

The trade gap, the difference between exports and imports, stood at $2.99 billion in December 2024.

According to the data, exports fell by 20.4% to $2.32 billion in December 2025, compared with $2.91 billion in the same month last year.

In contrast, imports rose by over 2% to $6.02 billion from $5.9 billion in the corresponding period.

On a month-on-month basis, the trade deficit surged by more than 28% from $2.89 billion in November 2025, reflecting both declining exports and a jump in imports during December.

The deterioration was also evident over the broader period. During the first six months of the current fiscal year (6MFY26), Pakistan’s trade deficit expanded by nearly 35% to $19.20 billion, compared with $14.27 billion in the same period last year.

Exports during July-December FY26 declined by almost 9% to $15.18 billion from $16.63 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, imports increased by 11% to $34.39 billion, up from $30.90 billion recorded in the same period of FY25.

The widening trade gap comes amid broader external sector pressures.

Earlier data showed that Pakistan’s current account posted a cumulative deficit of $812 million in the first five months of FY26, reversing a surplus of $503 million recorded in the corresponding period last year.