Pakistan's industrial manufacturing sector -- like elsewhere in the world -- has suffered from the slowdown in global consumption and the rise in energy costs following the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
In Pakistan, the industry was buoyed at the tail end of the coronavirus pandemic, when it was freed of restrictions earlier than regional rivals India and Bangladesh and benefited from government financial aid, including slashed energy rates.The textile and clothing sector employs around 40 percent of the country's 20 million-strong industrial workforce.
After devastating floods in the summer of 2022, cotton production in Pakistan fell to an all-time low.