Pakistan’s textile and apparel exports edged up to $18 billion in fiscal year 2025-26, their highest level in four years, even as the country’s overall exports declined. The figures come from the Pakistan Textile Council’s first Annual Export Performance Report, released on Tuesday, November 11, 2026.
What happened?
The council’s report, covering July 2025 to June 2026, shows textile and apparel exports grew by just 0.3 percent, from $17.95 billion in FY2024-25 to $18 billion. Over the same period, Pakistan’s total exports fell by 5.9 percent, from $32.04 billion to $30.14 billion, leaving textiles accounting for around 60 percent of the country’s export earnings.
The council used the report to warn that high taxes, expensive energy, delayed tax refunds and falling cotton production are squeezing the industry’s competitiveness, despite the headline figure.
Key details
- Value-added products led the growth: exports of apparel and home textiles under Chapters 61 to 63 rose 1.1 percent to $14.98 billion, making up 83.2 percent of textile exports, compared with 77 percent in FY2021-22.
- Home textiles and made-up articles remained the largest value-added chapter, generating $5.705 billion in exports during the year.
- The European Union remained the largest market at $7.103 billion, followed by the United States at $4.853 billion and the United Kingdom at $1.730 billion.
- Cotton production fell to 5.5 million bales in the latest season, its lowest level in three decades, adding to pressure on mills.
- The year ended weakly: textile exports fell 17 percent year-on-year to $1.27 billion in June 2026, and were down 23 percent from May.
- The council proposed 11 policy measures, including cutting corporate tax to 15 percent, ensuring competitive energy tariffs, speeding up tax refunds, expanding export financing, securing preferential market access and reviving domestic cotton production.
What it means for people in Pakistan
Textiles remain Pakistan’s biggest source of export earnings and a major employer, so even modest growth matters for jobs in mills, garment factories and home-textile units. The report’s warning is the other side of the story: if energy costs, taxes and cotton shortages are not addressed, the sector’s hard-won position in European and American markets could slip, putting livelihoods in textile towns at risk.
