For developed countries, the exports are also a significant variable but their exports based on capital goods while the least developed countries’ exports based on primary products. The prices of the primary products are low and more volatile in foreign markets. So the least developed countries suffer higher export instability challenges than the developed countries because of the inelastic and unstable demand and supply of their exports. The high degree of export instability for these primary products may have an adverse effect on the growth of developing states.
Various researches were carried out to check the unfavorable effects of export instability on economic growth that offered mixed consequences. These researchers have tested and explained that in most economies, export growth have made an important contribution to economic growth. But export fluctuations deleterious for this strong relationship between export and economic growth of any economy. It is also recorded that the price instability plays a significant role for instability in exports. The causes for high export instability in the least developed countries than developed countries are: specialization in production and exports of primary products, commodity concentration and geographical concentration of export markets.
| Pakistan Exports (Million US $) | |
|---|---|
| Year | Exports Value |
| 1970-71 | 683 |
| 1980-81 | 2,799 |
| 1990-91 | 5,894 |
| 2000-01 | 8,934 |
| 2010-11 | 25,369 |
| 2018-19 | 24,257 |
In the developing countries like Pakistan the present statistics showed that Pakistan’s exports grew 6 percent to $1.872 billion in September 2020, as against to the same month of previous year. It is said that the footwear exports from the country recorded a fall of 9.88 percent during the first quarter of the current financial year (2020-21) as against to the exports of the same period of last year. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan exported footwear worth $33.463 million during July-September (2020-21) as compared to the exports of $37.133 million during July-September (2019-20), explaining pessimistic growth of 9.88 percent. In terms of quantity, statistics showed that the exports of footwear also declined by 13.47 percent by going down from 3,873 metric tons to 3,351 metric tons.
Among the footwear products, the exports of leather footwear fell by 8.59 percent as it down from $32.059 million previous year to $29.305 million during the current year (2020-21). The canvas footwear exports of Pakistan reached at just $ 0.038 million during the current year against $ 0.033 million during previous year, explaining a rise of 15.15 percent. Likewise, the exports of all other footwear commodities also dipped by 18.27 percent during the period under review as these went down from $5.041 million last year to $4.120 million during the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, on yearly basis, the footwear exports, however, recorded a rise of 4.19 percent during the month of September 2020 compared to the same month of last year. During September 2020 the footwear exports were registered at $11.812 million as compared to the exports of $11.337 million in September 2019. The leather and canvas footwear exports during the period under review also grew by 6.36 and 750 percent respectively. In addition, the exports of all other footwear commodities declined by 11.23 percent. The exports of footwear on a monthly basis, however, witnessed a rise of 30.74 percent during September 2020 as against to the exports of $9.035 million in August 2020. The exports of leather on monthly basis grew by 31.07 percent and the export of canvas and all other footwear also grew by 750 and 25.77 percent respectively.
The Government of Pakistan continues to struggle with the task of effectively accessing export markets. In this regard, unluckily the role of standards and technical regulations cannot be overlooked, nor can Pakistani exporters’ capacity to react effectively to obstacles presented through such regulations or standards. Clearly, the obstacles to trade and capacity to react to these will shape exporting companies’ performance.
| Pakistan Exports (Million US $) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Period | Exports | Growth Rate | ||
| Value | Cumulative | |||
| Monthly | Period to Period | |||
| Jul-19 | 2,217 | 2,217 | 23.2 | 10.1 |
| Aug-19 | 1,889 | 4,106 | -14.8 | 0.4 |
| Sep-19 | 1,879 | 5,985 | -0.5 | 1.6 |
| Oct-19 | 2,189 | 8,174 | 16.5 | 2.8 |
| Nov-19 | 2,111 | 10,285 | -3.6 | 4.4 |
| Dec-19 | 2,108 | 12,393 | -0.1 | 4.4 |
| Jan-20 | 2,053 | 14,446 | -2.6 | 2.2 |
| Feb-20 | 1,993 | 16,439 | -2.9 | 2.7 |
| Mar-20 | 1,820 | 18,259 | -8.7 | 1.2 |
| Apr-20 | 1,407 | 19,666 | -22.7 | -2.3 |
| May-20 | 1,259 | 20,925 | -10.5 | -6.8 |
| Jun-20 | 1,582 | 22,507 | 25.7 | -7.2 |
| Jul-20 | 1,897 | 1,897 | 19.9 | -14.4 |
| Aug-20 | 1,510 | 3,407 | -20.4 | -17.0 |
| Sep-20 | 1,951 | 5,358 | 29.2 | -10.5 |