Pakistan’s machinery imports surge by 6.36%: PBS report

WEB DESK: In the initial five months of the current fiscal year (2023–24), there has been a notable surge of 6.36 per cent in imports within the machinery group, as disclosed by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The cumulative imports of machinery from July to November (2023–24) reached a substantial figure of $2,935.576 million, exhibiting a significant uptick from the $2,760.055 million recorded during the corresponding period in the preceding year.

Breaking down the statistics, the import of machinery related to the agriculture sector witnessed a remarkable ascent of 60.76 per cent, soaring from $19.784 million to $31,804 million.

Similarly, office machinery, inclusive of data processing equipment, experienced a surge of 57.11 per cent, escalating from $129.909 million to $204.095 million.

Construction and mining machinery witnessed a moderate rise of 3.87 per cent, advancing from $33.260 million to $34.546 million.

Furthermore, electricity machinery and apparatus observed a notable increase of 17.10 per cent, moving from $778.902 million to $912.073 million.

In the telecommunications realm, equipment related to the sector exhibited a remarkable 74.36 per cent surge, escalating from $455.625 million to $794.445 million.

Mobile phone machinery recorded a substantial rise of 112.20 per cent, surging from $290.550 million to $616.541 million, while other apparatus experienced a growth of 7.77 per cent, reaching from $165.075 million to $177.904 million.

Contrastingly, certain categories witnessed a decline during this period. Power-generating machinery saw a dip of 26.24 per cent, sliding from $243.135 million to $179.337 million.

Textile machinery observed a substantial decrease of 73 per cent, dropping from $212.786 million to $56.803 million, and other equipment recorded an 18 per cent decline, moving from $886.654 million to $722.473 million.

On a year-on-year basis, the machinery group imports displayed a notable uptick of 9.17 per cent in November 2023, comparing favourably to the same month in the preceding year, reaching from $534.863 million to $583.926 million.

However, on a month-on-month comparison, machinery imports into the country experienced a decline of 15.95 per cent in November 2023, in contrast to the imports recorded at $694.762 million in October 2023, as per the latest data provided by the PBS.

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