Trade gap widens to $3.56bn in September

Mettis Global reported that Pakistan's goods trade shortfall reached $3.56 billion in September 2026, a 7.99% increase on August's level and a 6.15% rise on the same month of 2025. Provisional figures from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics show imports rose by more dollars than exports did, even though exports had a comparatively strong month. The monthly gap therefore widened as the import bill outpaced export receipts.

Exports rose 16.07% month on month to $2.94 billion, while imports climbed 11.5% to $6.49 billion. In dollar terms, the export gain of $407 million was smaller than the $670 million increase in imports, leaving the monthly gap $263 million wider than in August. Export cover stood at roughly 45% of imports last month, against about 43% in August and in September 2025.

For July to September of FY27, the trade deficit totalled $10.79 billion, a 15.13% increase on the $9.37 billion recorded a year earlier, adding roughly $1.42 billion to external financing needs. Over the same three months, imports totalled $19.22 billion and exports $8.42 billion. Mettis Global noted that the rupee value of the quarterly gap passed Rs3 trillion, and that remittances and financial inflows will need to absorb the extra shortfall.