Is the textile sector recovering?

Pakistan’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector continued to face headwinds in first ten months of this fiscal year (July 2024–April 2025), contracting by 1.52 per cent year-on-year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The decline reflects ongoing challenges in key industries such as food, chemicals, iron and steel. However, textile manufacturing — the largest component of LSM — registered a modest growth of 0.49pc in the same period. The improvement was driven by a 0.91pc rise in wearing apparel outputs, while cotton yarn and cloth production remained relatively subdued. This suggests a gradual but welcome shift towards value-added textile segments despite broader industrial sluggishness. Pakistan’s textile exports are also showing signs of recovery in FY25, with the sector accounting for 55.4pc of total exports during the first 11MFY25 (July 2024–May 2025), up from 54.3pc in FY24.