Pakistan posted its highest monthly trade deficit in 46 months in April, with the gap widening to $4 billion as imports continued to grow faster than exports, adding fresh strain to the country’s already fragile external position.

Data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Monday showed the trade deficit increased 4% from a year earlier and 44% from the previous quarter, driven largely by higher imports.

For the first 10 months of FY26, Pakistan’s merchandise trade deficit rose 20% to $32 billion. Imports during July-April climbed nearly 7% to $57.2 billion, while exports fell more than 6% to $25.2 billion, highlighting persistent pressure on the balance of payments.

In April alone, exports rose 14% from a year earlier to $2.48 billion, but that gain was outweighed by a 7.5% increase in imports to $6.55 billion.

Services trade offered only limited relief. The services trade deficit narrowed 6.7% to $2.15 billion in July-March FY26, as services exports rose 17% to $7.35 billion. However, services imports also increased by nearly 11% to $9.5 billion.

A stronger improvement was seen in March, when the monthly services deficit narrowed 81% from a year earlier to $22.9 million, compared with $120 million in the same month last year. Services exports for the month rose 16% to $903 million, while imports edged up 3% to $925 million.

Despite that improvement, the broader trade outlook remains difficult. Strong import demand and weak export growth are likely to keep pressure on the rupee and complicate Pakistan’s efforts to stabilize its external accounts while relying on foreign financing to shore up reserves.