KARACHI: The trade deficit of April 2026 in Pakistan is said to have been $4 billion. This trade deficit figure for Pakistan marks the highest recorded for 46 months as well as increasing gap between import and export within the country. The data collected by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday showed that the trade deficit in April 2026 was reported to be $4.07 billion, which marked a 4 percent rise from $3.92 billion in April 2025 and also rose by 43.5 percent compared to March 2026.
This data clearly shows a gap that exists and which has worsened with time. This dual impact indicates that the decline is not a temporary phenomenon but represents an ongoing trend that the authorities will be hard-pressed to ignore.
Imports rise to $6.55 billion as month-to-month increase tops 28%
The increased cost of imports made the trade deficit value for April reach an all-time high since April 46 months ago. The level of imports was recorded to be at $6.55 billion during April 2026 with a growth percentage of 7.5 percent compared to the $6.1 billion worth in imports in April 2025, meaning that there is a year-on-year increase. This was a month-to-month increase of over 28 percent compared to March 2026.
An import spike on this scale for just one month immediately begs the question as to what this growth is composed of. Is it a result of increased growth and the purchase of capital goods, or is it simply an increase in consumer imports? The import growth numbers come from PBS statistics, but it is yet to be seen in what manner this growth can translate into exports in the future.
Expenditures increase by 14%, unable to catch up with the pace of imports’ increase
In reality, the export value for Pakistan in April 2026 was quite encouraging by itself. The value amounted to $2.48 billion, indicating an increase of 14% from the last year’s $2.17 billion. Such an increment is usually considered positive for the Pakistani economy.
The issue lies with context. An increase in exports by 14% is very convincing up until it is compared with a rise in imports by 7.5%, and this results in a difference in actual dollars exceeding $4 billion. While the increase in exports on an annual basis stands at $310 million, the corresponding value for imports is $450 million; thus, Pakistan is experiencing an expansion of its trade deficit even with the increase in export sales.
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FY26 deficit widens 20.3% to $31.98 billion in first 10 months
The figure posted in April has brought Pakistan’s total trade deficit for the first ten months of FY26 at $31.98 billion. This represents an increase of 20.3% when compared to $26.59 billion registered in the same span of time during FY25. It must be noted that there has been a widening of $5 billion in Pakistan’s total trade deficit for FY26 against FY25 year-on-year on a cumulative basis.
The ten-month import value amounted to $57.19 billion — an increase of 7% from $53.48 billion in 10MFY25 — whereas ten-month exports were down by more than 6% at $25.21 billion against $26.89 billion during the corresponding period last year. The concurrent increase in imports and decrease in exports during ten months indicate that the April Pakistan trade deficit number was not a one-off occurrence but another example of a year-long negative trend in this regard.
As two months are left before the closing of FY26, the future course of Pakistan’s trade deficit during the whole financial year depends largely on how May and June perform on the issue of correcting the difference between exports and imports. If Pakistan ends up with its trade deficit at the level of $31.98 billion after ten months into the fiscal year, the whole fiscal year of Pakistan’s trade deficit will require a proper policy solution way before FY27 starts.
