LSM growth rebounds in November
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ISLAMABAD: The Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM) sector posted a year-on-year growth of 10.37 per cent in November 2025 amid ongoing economic challenges, showed figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday.
The improvement suggests that the adverse impact of recent flooding on industrial activity has largely subsided, allowing for a gradual stabilisation in production across key sectors.
The growth in November was led by automobiles, petroleum products, apparel, construction-linked industries, beverages, and electrical equipment, pointing to both consumer demand and investment-related activity picking up.
On a month-on-month basis, the LSM recorded an uptick of 0.16pc in November 2025.
The first month (July 2025) of the current fiscal year saw robust growth of 8.99pc, which fell to sluggish 0.54pc in August, then slightly reversed to 2.69pc in September and 8.33pc in October.
The LSM grew 6.01pc year-on-year during July-November 2025-26, mainly due to the good performance of the automobile and cement sectors.
Food group production rose 3.43pc YoY in 5MFY26. Wheat and rice milling grew by 4.36pc, and sugar and bakery products by 4.80pc, respectively, primarily due to improved crop yields.
However, cooking oil production increased by 6.03pc, while vegetable ghee production fell by 1.07pc. However, tea blended declined by 6.12pc.
The overall textile sector recorded growth of 1.77pc in 5MFY26 on a YoY basis. Cotton yarn has increased by 1.92pc, while cotton cloth has increased by 0.24pc, accounting for more than 80pc of the textile sector. The primary cause of the production slowdown was a slight decline in export unit values amid lower demand for textiles.
Garment exports recorded a 7.14pc YoY growth in 5MFY26. However, the garment sector recorded a double-digit growth rate of 18.43pc in November 2025 compared with a year ago.
Coke and petroleum products surged 18.06pc in 5MFY26. Most of the petroleum products posted a positive growth in production during the months under review. Petrol production increased by 15.05pc, high-speed diesel by 28.81pc, jet fuel oil by 9.97pc, and kerosene oil by 23.71pc. However, furnace oil production dipped 6.97pc.
However, LPG production increased by 21.55pc, and petroleum products by 52.77pc.
The automobile sector grew 75.15pc in 5MFY26 on a YoY basis.
Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2026
