Pakistan's rice export earnings fell to USD2.291 billion in fiscal year 2025-26 from USD3.353 billion a year earlier, as shipments dropped by more than 1.5 million tonnes and contributed to a 29.49% contraction in the country's overall food exports, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics.
Pakistan exported 4.292 million metric tonnes of rice during the year ended June 30, compared with 5.817 million tonnes in FY2024-25. The figures point to a steep deterioration in one of the country's major food export categories. Rice earnings declined by about USD1.06 billion from the preceding fiscal year, alongside the sizeable fall in volumes shipped overseas. Basmati rice, however, presented a different picture. Pakistan exported 794,638 tonnes of the variety, only modestly below the 808,069 tonnes shipped a year earlier. Despite the decline in basmati volumes, export receipts increased to USD843.002 million from USD830.570 million in FY25. The weakness in rice formed part of a much broader contraction in Pakistan's food exports.
Total overseas sales of food commodities fell to USD5.017 billion in FY26 from USD7.116 billion in the preceding year, a decrease of 29.49%. The reduction amounted to roughly USD2.1 billion in food export earnings over the course of a year. Other agricultural and food products continued to generate foreign exchange, although the PBS figures provided do not include year-earlier comparisons for each of those categories.
Pakistan exported 215,170 tonnes of fish and fish products worth USD482.017 million during July-June FY26. Fruit shipments reached 533,382 tonnes with a value of USD308.130 million, while the country exported 594,104 tonnes of vegetables worth USD162.770 million. Tobacco exports amounted to 46,669 tonnes and generated USD142.527 million. Oilseeds and nuts contributed another USD260.519 million in export earnings from shipments totalling about 243,019 tonnes. Meat and meat preparations provided one of the more resilient elements of the food trade.
Pakistan exported approximately 114,046 tonnes of meat and meat preparations worth USD530.245 million during FY26. The volume was almost unchanged from the 114,157 tonnes exported in FY25, but earnings increased from USD495.109 million. The deterioration in food exports was accompanied by movement in the opposite direction on the import side. Pakistan's food-group imports increased by 11.66% during FY26, reaching USD9.150 billion compared with USD8.195 billion in FY2024-25. That combination - a sharp decline in export receipts alongside higher purchases from abroad - left a markedly less favourable food-trade picture at the end of the fiscal year.
Rice accounted for a substantial part of the export decline. Shipments fell from 5.817 million tonnes to 4.292 million tonnes, while receipts dropped from USD3.353 billion to USD2.291 billion. Basmati provided a partial exception: its export quantity slipped slightly, yet earnings increased to USD843.002 million. The broader figures were more severe. Total food exports declined by nearly three-tenths to just over USD5 billion at the same time that food imports climbed above USD9 billion. Pakistan therefore ended FY26 with contrasting trends across individual food products but a clear deterioration overall. Higher receipts from basmati and meat exports were overshadowed by the steep fall in total rice earnings and the 29.49% contraction in the wider food export bill.