Pakistan, April 21 -- Pakistan's food exports grew by 1.62% in the first nine months of FY2024-25, reaching $5.75 billion, official data shows. This marks the 20th straight month of growth, despite rising domestic food prices. The increase was mainly driven by stronger exports of basmati rice and sugar, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

Basmati rice exports rose 8.78% in value and 21.78% in volume, helped by strong demand from Europe and Bangladesh. However, non-basmati rice exports dropped nearly 10% in value, even though quantity remained steady. Overall rice exports declined by 5.91%, totaling $2.76 billion in nine months.

Meanwhile, sugar exports jumped to 757,779 tonnes, far beyond the 150,000-tonne cap set in J...