LAHORE: Pakistan Tex­­­tile Exporters Association (PTEA) has expressed gra­ve concerns over the dec­line in the country’s textile exports for the fourth consecutive month and appealed to the government to take up the matter urgently to resolve various issues that the industry has been facing for the past three to four years.

According to the mon­th­­ly trade summary issu­­ed by the PTEA for Nov­e­mber, the export-oriented sector is facing lower ord­ers, leading to underutilised capacity, layoffs and weakening long-term inve­stment prospects. It states that continuous decline in exports un­­dermines Pakis­tan’s competitiveness, allo­wing regi­o­nal competitors to capture key export markets.

“Exports are a major growth driver, but the prolonged decline slows GDP expansion and limits fiscal space for development spending. Lower export earnings reduce the country’s ability to meet external debt obligations. The persistent downturn signals structural weaknesses, discouraging both domestic and foreign investment,” the report reads, adding that declining exports reduce incentives for innovation, quality enhancement and adoption of new technologies.

Talking to Dawn, PTEA General Secretary Aziz­ullah Goheer said unfortunately, the textile exp­ort industry couldn’t surpass or even maintain the FY2021 figure of US$19.3 billion from FY2022 to FY2025. Rather, the figures dropped to $18bn and $17bn and so on. “Let’s see what happens in the ongoing fiscal year, as we have faced 6.39 per cent decline ($13.721bn in the last fiscal year to $12.844bn in the ongoing FY) in exports from July to November 2025,” he mentioned.

Referring to competitiveness in the region, he said the country’s export industry is now unable to compete with India and Bangladesh due to the government’s inaction to resolve the issue related to highest-ever tax rates, energy prices, interest rates, all of which have led to a massive increase in the cost of production.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2025