Pakistan's seafood exports have posted steady growth in the current fiscal year, even as the country's broader food export sector contracts sharply, highlighting a widening divergence within agricultural trade.

Figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics show that exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 9.7% to $289.16m during July-February 2025-26, compared with $263.59m in the corresponding period last year. The rise in value was accompanied by a marginal increase in volume, which edged up by 0.99% to 127,308 metric tons.

Despite the overall improvement, short-term data present a mixed picture. On a year-on-year basis, seafood shipments grew by 12.89% in February 2026, reaching $35.35m compared with $31.32m in February 2025. However, the quantity exported during the same month declined by 1.85%, falling to 15,710 metric tons.

Month-on-month trends suggest further softness. Export earnings in February remained broadly unchanged, slipping by 0.01% compared with January 2026. In volume terms, shipments fell more noticeably, decreasing by 5.5% from 16,624 metric tons in the previous month.

The performance of seafood stands in contrast to the wider food export sector. Overall food exports dropped by 34.38% during the eight-month period, amounting to $3.39bn compared with $5.17bn a year earlier.

The data underline a sector that continues to expand in value terms, even as fluctuations in volume and broader declines in food exports point to uneven conditions across Pakistan's external trade landscape.