Pakistan’s fuel import bill plummets by nearly 20%

The import bill for Pakistan’s petroleum group stood at $15.16 billion for the fiscal year 2023-24, reflecting a 19.7 per cent decrease from the previous year’s figure of $18.88 billion, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

Overall, the country’s import bill saw a modest increase of 0.9 per cent year-on-year, reaching $53.17 billion. The petroleum group remained the largest contributor to imports, accounting for 28.5 per cent of the total.

In contrast, the transport sector experienced a significant rise in imports, which surged by 28 per cent to $1.62 billion in FY24, compared to $1.27 billion in FY23. This increase is largely due to a 27.2 per cent rise in the import of road motor vehicles, which totalled $1.37 billion, up from $1.07 billion the previous year.

The second and third-largest import groups were Agriculture & Other Chemicals and Machinery, valued at $8.94 billion and $7.41 billion, respectively. Imports in the Agriculture & Other Chemicals category grew by 8.4 per cent, while the Machinery group saw a substantial increase of 67.1 per cent from the previous year.

Food imports, however, declined by 10.7 per cent to $7.11 billion, down from $7.97 billion last year. Within this category, tea emerged as the leading import, amounting to $687.64 million, an increase of 38.8 per cent year-on-year. In contrast, palm oil imports dropped by 20.3 per cent to $2.68 billion.