During the first eight months of the current financial year, imports of edible oil, including Soybean and Palm oil, have risen significantly. Soybean oil imports surged by 148.67%, while Palm oil imports grew by 9.87% compared to the same period last year.

During the July-February period in 2022-23, imports of Soybean oil into the country saw an impressive 148.67% increase. Over 140,120 metric tonnes of Soybean oil costing $203.578 million was imported to meet local requirements - compared to just 62,750 metric tonnes worth $81.866 million during the same period last year.

Imports of Palm oil increased during this period compared to the same time last year. Over 2.151 million metric tonnes worth $2.681 billion were imported in the period under review, which was up from the imports of 2.037 million metric tonnes valuing $2.440 billion the previous year.

According to the statistics provided by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, imports of food items into the country rose by 3.98% during the first eight months of the current financial year - amounting to $6.687 billion compared to imports of $6.431 billion from the same period last year.

Conversely, exports of food commodities from the country during July-February 2022-23 had a negative growth rate of 6.08%, reaching $3.226 billion instead of $3.434 billion in 2021 on the same period-on-period basis.

Imports of tea, dry fruits, and nuts decreased in the past year, with a 6.45 percent drop in tea shipments, 43.43 percent fewer nuts and a 34.31 percent decrease in spices compared to last year's imports. Around 159,562 metric tonnes of tea were imported costing $396.499 million compared to last year's 177,613 metric tonnes valued at $423.857 million.