By Moaaz Manzoor

Pakistan’s textile exports plunged 22.72% month-on-month to $1.267 billion in June, although the sector ended FY2025-26 with a marginal annual growth.

According to detailed commodity-wise export data compiled by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and available with Wealth Pakistan, textile earnings fell from $1.640 billion in May and were also 16.71% below the $1.522 billion recorded in June 2025.

Knitwear remained the largest textile export category, generating $364.152 million in June. However, its earnings declined 18.34% from May and 19.99% from June 2025.

Readymade garments were the second-largest textile export item at $315.344 million. Their exports fell 23.87% month-on-month and 12.43% year-on-year.

Bedwear exports stood at $209.676 million, down 26.52% from May and 23.29% from the same month last year. Cotton-cloth exports decreased 23.12% month-on-month and 8.60% year-on-year to $112.136 million.

Towels recorded the steepest monthly fall among the leading textile categories. Their exports declined 36.77% from May and 23.92% from June 2025 to $66.332 million.

Exports of made-up articles, excluding towels and bedwear, dropped 27.30% month-on-month and 22.10% year-on-year to $48.709 million. Artificial silk and synthetic textile exports fell 24.05% from May and 31.12% from a year earlier to $23.287 million.

Other textile-material exports declined 26.99% from May to $55.166 million, although they remained 1.61% higher than in June 2025.

Cotton yarn was one of the few major textile categories to record growth during the month. Its exports increased 6.62% from May and 3% year-on-year to $64.028 million.

Similarly, exports of tents, canvas and tarpaulin fell 15.81% month-on-month to $7.397 million but were 4.17% higher than in June last year. Yarn other than cotton yarn declined 31.05% from May and 63.79% year-on-year to $1.219 million.

Despite the broad-based monthly contraction, textile exports increased slightly over the full fiscal year. The group earned $17.933 billion during July–June FY2025-26, up 0.26% from $17.887 billion in the previous fiscal year.

The annual increase amounted to approximately $45.931 million. Readymade-garment exports supported the full-year result, rising 3.87% to $4.288 billion. Cotton-yarn exports increased 12.40% to $765.124 million, while other textile-material exports grew 8.67% to $790.865 million.

These gains offset declines in several large categories. Knitwear exports decreased 0.88% to $4.966 billion, while cotton-cloth exports fell 7.55% to $1.672 billion.

Towel exports declined 1.93% to $1.062 billion, and artificial silk and synthetic textile exports fell 11.54% to $353.395 million. Bedwear remained almost unchanged at $3.113 billion, recording a marginal decline of 0.01%.

Overall, Pakistan’s total exports stood at $2.252 billion in June, down $437.435 million, or 16.27%, from May and $225.822 million, or 9.12%, from June 2025.

For the full FY2025-26, total exports fell by approximately $1.901 billion, or 5.93%, to $30.139 billion from $32.040 billion. Textiles accounted for 56.29% of total June exports and 59.50% of the country’s full-year export earnings.

Credit: INP-WealthPk