ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector rebounded in the first half of FY26, expanding 4.82 per cent over the same period last year, driven by strong gains in automobiles, garments and petroleum products, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics reported Tuesday.
Production during July-December 2025-26 increased from a year earlier in food, beverages and tobacco, textiles and apparel, paper and board, coke and petroleum products, rubber and non-metallic mineral products, fabricated metals, computers, electronics and optical goods, electrical equipment, automobiles and other transport equipment. It declined in leather and wood products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, machinery and equipment and furniture.
The overall growth of 4.82pc was mainly driven by garments (1.25), automobiles (1.57), petroleum products (0.98), cement (0.66), textiles (0.26), tobacco (0.13) and electrical equipment (0.22). Sectors that weighed on growth included pharmaceuticals (-0.33), chemicals (-0.16), iron and steel (-0.20), paper and board (-0.08), furniture (-0.08) and machinery and equipment (-0.07). Food contributed modestly with 0.09, while other transport equipment added 0.24.
The LSM during December 2025 rose by 0.44 per cent year-on-year and jumped up 9.26pc from November, pushing cumulative growth to 4.8pc during the first half of FY26.
During the month under review, automobiles posted a growth of 31.2pc from a year earlier and other transport equipment at 41.5pc. Beverages’ output increased 15.1pc, garments rose 9.24pc and electrical equipment climbed 10.85pc. Cement production increased 3.13pc, while tobacco was up 44.6pc, furniture 34.9pc, non-metallic minerals 2.57pc and rubber products increased 5.8pc. Textile output grew 2.5pc. In contrast, food output shrank by 5.6pc, coke and petroleum products 4.7pc, leather products 5.4pc, paper and board 34.3pc, chemicals 5.8pc, fertilizers 9.7pc and pharmaceuticals output contracted by 5.5pc. Similarly, football output also reduced 9.7pc, iron and steel 7.8pc, machinery 31.3pc and sugar production declined by 9.4pc over a year ago. LSM accounts for about 8pc of Pakistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) but has struggled in recent years under IMF-backed reforms that included import restrictions, a weaker rupee, high interest rates and recurring energy shortages.
The latest figures suggest the sector is gradually stabilising as macroeconomic pressures ease.
