Pakistan's textile and garments exports declined by 16.23 per cent in March 2015 compared with the previous year. Exports of cotton yarn declined 29.36 per cent in value and 12.99 per cent in quantity terms, followed by cotton cloth (14.45 per cent in value and 37.57 per cent in quantity terms), bed wear (16.94 per cent in value and 15.15 per cent in quantity terms), towels (19.03 per cent in value and 23.51 per cent in quantity terms), garments (5.20 per cent in value and 12.57 per cent in quantity terms), synthetics (24.87 per cent in value and 32.99 per cent in quantity terms) and made-us (13.62 per cent in value terms).

Knitwear is the only product having registered a 28.53 per cent growth in quantity terms but it has also declined by 7.41 per cent in value terms.

Pakistan’s textile industry has lost its comparative advantage to regional competitors on account of high cost of energy, finance and wages, technology and raw material disadvantages, system inefficiencies, opportunity cost of funds withheld by the government and zero investment incentives. Since textile mills have been closing down one after another, 30 per cent of the capacity across the textile value chain has been lost.