Pakistan’s Petroleum Imports Faces Sharp Decline in Q1 of FY24

According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) on Wednesday, during the first quarter of the current fiscal year (FY24), imports in the petroleum group experienced a significant decline, with a negative growth rate of 28.03 percent. These imports amounted to $3.501 billion, down from $4.865 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year (July-September).

The PBS data on exports and imports further revealed that on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, petroleum group imports in September 2023 dropped by 14.90 percent, totaling $1.330 billion, in contrast to $1.563 billion in September 2022. Additionally, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, these imports recorded a 3.55 percent negative growth compared to the $1.379 million recorded in August 2023.

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Specifically, the imports of petroleum products saw a substantial negative growth of 36.55 percent during July-September FY24, amounting to $1.515 million, down from $2.388 billion during the same period in the previous fiscal year. On a MoM basis, these imports registered an 11.45 percent negative growth, standing at $544.087 million in September 2023, in contrast to $614.781 million in August 2023. Furthermore, on a YoY basis, petroleum products experienced a 25.44 percent negative growth when compared to the $730.107 million recorded in September 2022.

The overall imports during July-September FY24 amounted to $12.227 billion (provisional), a significant decrease from the $16.329 billion recorded during the corresponding period of FY23, showing a decline of 25.12 percent.

In September 2023, imports reached $3.994 billion (provisional), marking an 11.79 percent decrease from the $4.528 billion in August 2023 and a 24.54 percent decrease from the $5.293 billion recorded in September 2022.

The key import commodities in September 2023 included Petroleum products (Rs. 162,087 million), Petroleum crude (Rs. 146,179 million), Natural gas (liquified) (Rs. 75,331 million), Palm oil (Rs. 61,388 million), Plastic Materials (Rs. 49,628 million), Electric machinery & apparatus (Rs. 44,699 million), Iron & steel (Rs. 44,191 million), Mobile phones (Rs. 37,093 million), Iron & steel scrap (Rs. 27,299 million), and Pulses (leguminous vegetables) (Rs. 22,208 million).