Pakistan's rice exports are rising quickly, led by basmati. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the country exported 145,731 tonnes of basmati worth $164.091m in July-August 2026, up 53.04% from 101,973 tonnes worth $107.223m a year earlier. Even so, food imports still cost almost twice as much as food exports earned.

Rice accounted for most of the increase in food exports. Total rice shipments rose by 24.68% to $391.741m, as volumes increased to 654,619 tonnes from 545,572 tonnes. Rice exports had been worth $314.198m in the same period last year.

Non-basmati rice grew more slowly. Exports of other rice varieties rose by 9.99% to $227.65m from $206.975m, while volumes increased to 508,879 tonnes from 443,499 tonnes.

The increase in rice exports lifted the food group as a whole. Food exports in the first two months of FY2027 rose by 7.67% to $833.023m, up from $773.644m a year earlier.

Food imports were much larger. Pakistan imported $1.503bn worth of food in July-August, 2.23% more than the $1.47bn imported a year earlier.

As a result, the food trade deficit was about $670m over the two months. That was slightly smaller than last year's deficit of about $696m, because exports grew faster than imports.

Rice exports are clearly growing, and basmati prices have performed well. However, Pakistan still imports nearly twice as much food as it exports, so food trade remains a significant drain on its foreign-exchange reserves.