KARACHI: Pakistan’s food trade deficit shot up to $1.14 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY26), with economists on Friday attributing the increase to recent floods that damaged exportable crops like rice and disrupted supply chains.
Last year, in July-September, the country’s food trade deficit with the world stood at $45 million, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).
Ranked among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, Pakistan witnessed yet another devastating monsoon that led to massive flooding, killing more than 1,000 people and 22,000 livestock while washing away crops over 2.2 million acres since late June, as per the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
“The widening deficit partly reflects flood damage caused to rice, maize and vegetable crops, which have reduced exports and lifted food imports,” Khaqan Najeeb, a former adviser to the Ministry of Finance, told Arab News.
Pakistan witnessed a food export decline of 31 percent to $1.1 billion in July through September, while its imports rose 36 percent to $2.25 billion, according to PBS data.
