According to data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics, government of Pakistan, the country’s leather sector exports increased by 12.89% in August to $68.387 million from $60.577 million in July. However, compared with August 2005 exports fell by 35.69% from $106.356-million.

The breakdown showed that the country exported finished leather worth $20.972 million, leather goods worth $37.965 million and footwear worth $9.450 million compared with $22.117 million, $29.915 million and $8.545 million respectively in previous month. Finished leather exports fell by 5.18%, while leather goods and footwear exports were up 26.91% and 10.59% respectively compared with July figures.

Despite this, Pakistan’s total exports from the sector in July and August fell by 33.44% to $128.964 million from $193.769 million in the same period the previous year. In the July/August period, the country exported 2.6 million m² of tanned leather at $43.089 million compared with 2.99 million in the prior year period, a decline of 12.91% and 15.63% in terms of quantity and value respectively. The country exported leather goods worth $67.880 million in the two-month period, including leather garments worth $50.187 million, leather gloves worth $14.112 million, and other leather goods worth $3.581 million, compared with $114.560 million in the corresponding period in 2005, a decline of 40.75%. The country also exported 2.1 million pairs of footwear worth $17.995 million, including leather footwear worth $15.822 million, canvas footwear worth $0.614 million and other footwear worth $1.559 million, compared with 3.6 million pairs at $28.139 million in the same period a year ago, a decrease of 36.05%.