Ayesha Saba

Pakistan’s imports rose by 13.87% year-on-year in the first quarter (July–September) of the fiscal year 2025-26 (1QFY26) to $17.03 billion, driven largely by a 112.87% surge in transport sector imports, raising their share in total imports from 2.91% to 6.19%. According to the monthly import data of selected commodities for the first quarter of FY26, issued by the Ministry of Commerce, during the quarter, the machinery group grew by 20.92%, reaching $2.6 billion compared to $2.1 billion last year, accounting for 15.36% of total imports.

Imports of power-generating machinery increased by 12.91%, office machinery, including data processing equipment, by 48.70%, textile machinery by 59.98%, construction and mining machinery by 34.29%, and telecom equipment by 77.33%. Within the telecom sector, mobile phones showed a notable rise of 103.10%, while other apparatus increased by 28.30%. However, electrical machinery and apparatus decreased by 12.01% during the period under review.

The transport group recorded the sharpest increase at 112.87%, with total imports rising from $495 million to $1.05 billion, lifting its share in total imports from 2.91% to 6.19%. Imports of road motor vehicles (built unit, CKD/SKD) grew by 104.62%, while aircraft, ships, and boats rose by 381.76%, and other transport equipment increased by 144.71%. In contrast, the petroleum group showed a decline of 6.79%, falling from $4.05 billion during 1QFY25 to $3.7 billion in 1QFY26, reducing its share from 27.08% to 22.17%.

Imports of petroleum products inched up from $1.35 billion to $1.39 billion, while petroleum crude slightly dipped from $1.43 billion to $1.42 billion. Imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell from $1.02 billion to $715 million, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) decreased from $240 million to $235 million.

The textile group imports increased by 11.76%, reaching $1.7 billion against $1.5 billion in the same period of last year. Within this group, imports of raw cotton declined from $474 million to $393 million, while synthetic fibre increased from $163 million to $213 million and synthetic and artificial silk yarn rose from $230 million to $265 million. Imports of worn clothing increased from $128 million to $139 million.

The chemical group imports rose 7.42%, increasing from $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion. Imports of the metal group increased by 15.37%, from $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion, raising its share in total imports from 9.13% to 9.25%. The miscellaneous group imports rose from $274 million to $315 million, showing an increase of 14.73%, while imports under other items also increased from $938 million to $1.07 billion, marking a growth of 14.28%.

Overall, Pakistan’s import composition during July-September period of FY26 indicates a broad-based increase in industrial and consumer goods, led by a strong rise in machinery, transport, and food imports.

Credit: INP-WealthPk