In fiscal years ’16 and ’17, Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan kept declining.
However, fiscal year ’18 recorded better results than the past two years. Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan reached a two-year high during the first ten months of the current fiscal year.

The performance in the remaining two months could help surpass the previous three-year record.

Afghanistan imports mostly food products such as wheat flour, rice, meet, etc from Pakistan. However, up to 50 per cent of flour mills have now been closed due to low exports.

Pakistan’s textile products have historically had a large share in Afghanistan but the recent penetration of Indian and Chinese products has replaced the country from its traditional market for finished and unfinished textile products.

It is also believed due to prevalent smuggling to Afghanistan, the size of the exports is likely to be twice as much as the official figures of Pakistan report.

Overall exports of the country have shown a growth of 14 per cent during the ten months, with sales to Afghanistan being a contributory factor.

Exports of pharmaceutical products from Pakistan have sharply dropped due to cheaper supply from India and China.

Pakistan is a major exporter of pharmaceutical products to Afgha¬nistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh as well as some African countries.