Large-Scale Manufacturing Grows by 9% in July 2025

Pakistan’s large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector recorded 8.99% year-on-year growth in July, driven largely by strong performance in textiles, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday. On a month-on-month basis, LSM output increased by 2.6%. The key contributors to overall growth included garments (3.8%), automobiles (1.33%), petroleum products (1.01%), non-metallic mineral products (0.96%), food (0.89%), paper and board (0.36%), and furniture (0.91%). However, beverages (-0.39%) and chemicals (-0.24%) weighed slightly on the index. Several sectors reported double-digit growth in July compared to the same month last year. These included wearing apparel at 24.8%, paper and board at 15%, coke and petroleum products at 13.2%, rubber products at 17.3%, non-metallic mineral products at 16.5%, automobiles at 57.8%, transport equipment at 45.8%, furniture at 86.8%, and football manufacturing at 33.7%. In contrast, some sectors posted declines, with beverages down 6.19%, iron and steel products down 3.69%, fabricated metals down 3.55%, machinery and equipment down 22.8%, wood products down 2.24%, and chemicals, including fertilizers, down 1.6%. Textile exports provided a major boost, rising 32% year-on-year to $1.68 billion in July, helping lift overall LSM performance at the start of the 2025-26 fiscal year.