The fish and fish preparations exports from the country increased by 15.27 percent during the first seven months of the current year over the corresponding period of last year.

Fish exports worth $175.011 million were recorded during July- January (2011-12) against the exports of $151.833 million during July-January (2010-11), Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data revealed.

In terms of quantity, the exports of fish increased from 66,593 metric tons last year to 67,448 metric tons, showing an increase of 1.28 percent.

During the month of January 2012, the exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 7.58 percent when compared to the exports of the same month of last year.

The seafood exports during January 2012 stood at $21.401 million against the exports of $19.893 million during January 2011.

However, as compared to the exports of $27.927 million during December 2011, the seafood exports during January 2012 declined by 23.37 percent, the PBS data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the over all food exports from the country increased by 4.89 percent during the first seven months of the current fiscal year to reach at $2.241 billion as compared to the exports of 2.136 billion during the same period of last year.

The overall exports from the country witnessed growth of 0.25 percent during the period as exports from the country stood at $13.155 billion against the exports of $13.122 billion last year.

On the other hand, the imports into the country increased by 16.77 percent from $22.546 billion to $26.327 billion during the current year.

Based on the figures, the trade deficit during the period stood at $13.172 billion against the deficit of $9.424 billion last year, showing an increase of 39.77 percent.