Pakistan's fish exports continued to grow during the first eleven months of fiscal year 2025-26, although the momentum weakened in May, underscoring the uneven performance of one of the country's important non-traditional export sectors. According to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), exports of fish and fish preparations generated $445.247 million during July-May FY2025-26, compared with $427.371 million in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year, representing an increase of 4.18 percent.

The improvement in export earnings was accompanied by a marginal increase in export volumes. Shipments rose by 0.18 percent, reaching 199,064 metric tons during the eleven-month period, up from 198,712 metric tons a year earlier. Despite the cumulative gains, the latest monthly figures pointed to weaker external demand. On a year-on-year basis, seafood exports declined by 8.18 percent to $51.860 million in May 2026, compared with $56.480 million recorded in May 2025.

Export volumes also contracted during the month. PBS data showed shipments falling 12.71 percent year-on-year to 23,417 metric tons, down from 26,826 metric tons in the same month of the previous year.

Compared with April, however, export receipts recorded a modest recovery. Fish and fish preparations exports increased 1.39 percent in value terms, rising from $51.149 million in April 2026 to $51.860 million in May. The improvement in export earnings was not matched by shipment volumes, which edged down 0.83 percent on a month-on-month basis from 23,614 metric tons in April to 23,417 metric tons in May, according to the PBS.

The figures indicate that while Pakistan's seafood sector maintained overall export growth during the first eleven months of FY2025-26, the decline in May's annual performance suggests that momentum moderated towards the end of the reporting period, even as monthly export earnings registered a slight recovery.