Pakistan’s fish exporters are selling more but earning little more for it. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), fish and fish preparations exported in July-August 2026 totalled 24,662 tonnes, about 10% more than the 22,433 tonnes shipped a year earlier. Revenue rose by only 3.23%, from $46.295m to $47.791m, indicating that the average price per tonne fell.

Meat exporters had much better results. Exports of meat and meat preparations increased by 22.53% to $94.147m from $76.835m, while volumes rose by less than 3%, from 17,177 tonnes to 17,653. Most of the increase in earnings therefore came from higher average prices.

As a result, meat brought in about twice as much money as fish despite smaller shipments. The difference suggests that Pakistani meat is selling at higher prices abroad, while fish exporters are competing mainly on volume.

Both categories contributed to growth in overall food exports. The food group earned $833.023m in the first two months of FY27, 7.67% more than the $773.644m earned a year earlier.

Food imports were still much larger. Pakistan spent $1.503bn on imported food during the same period, 2.23% more than the $1.47bn spent a year earlier.

That produced a food trade deficit of about $670m, slightly smaller than last year’s deficit because exports grew faster than imports. Even so, combined meat and fish exports of about $142m covered less than a tenth of the food import bill.

If fish exporters want earnings to grow as quickly as meat exporters’ earnings, they will probably need to sell higher-value products rather than simply increasing volumes.