Exports of sports products witness positive growth in 1st quarter

ISLAMABAD: The exports of sports products from the country witnessed positive growth during the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The sports goods worth $82.015 million were exported during July-September (2014-15) compared to the exports of $81.527 million in July-September (2013-14), showing a positive growth of 0.60 percent, according to the latest data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The sports goods that contributed in positive growth included footballs, exports of which increased by 15.05 percent during the period under review compared the last year.

The football exports reached to $40.705 million in 2014-15 compared to the exports of $35.380 million during the last year, the data revealed.

Similarly, the exports of gloves increased from $27.776 million in 2013-14 to $28.738 million in 2014-15, showing a growth of 3.46 percent.

However, the exports of all other sports products decreased by 31.57 percent by falling from $18.371 million to $12.572 million.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the exports of sports products decreased by 18.38 percent in the month of September 2014 compared to the exports of September 2013.

The exports of sports products in September 2014 were recorded at $25.083 million compared to the exports of $30.731 million in September 2013.

Among these products, the exports of footballs decreased by 5.77 percent in September 2014 over September 2013 while the exports of gloves and all other sports products witnessed negative growth of 21.99 percent and 42.88 percent respectively in September 2014.

On month-on-month basis, the exports of sports products, increased by 13.70 percent in September 2014 when compared to the exports of $22.060 million in August 2014.

Compared to the month of August 2014, the exports of footballs in September 2014 increased by 22.90 percent whereas the exports of gloves increased by 7.81 percent.

The exports of all other sports products decreased by 1.22 percent in September 2014 compared to the exports of August 2014, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the country's overall exports during July-September (2014-15) were recorded at $6.015 billion against $6.695 billion during July-September (2013-14).

On the other hand, Imports during the period under review were recorded at $12.519 billion against $11.177 billion during the corresponding period of last year.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during July-September (2014-15) was recorded at $6.504 billion against $4.482 billion in July-September (2013-14), showing negative growth of 45.11 percent.