Exports contract 1 pc in Dec; trade deficit narrows to about USD 22 bn

NEW DELHI: India's trade deficit narrowed to USD 21.94 billion in December after last month's shocking surge to a lifetime high on the back of miscalculations in gold imports, government data showed on Wednesday.

Exports contracted for the second month in a row by about one per cent year-on-year to USD 38.01 billion due to global uncertainties, while imports rose by about 5 per cent to USD 59.95 billion.

Key export sectors, including petroleum, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, have registered negative growth during the month under review.

Petroleum product shipments have declined by 28.62 per cent to USD 4.91 billion last month. During the first nine months of this fiscal also, these exports contracted by 20.84 per cent year-on-year to USD 49 billion.

However, textiles, electronics, engineering, rice and marine products recorded healthy growth in December 2024.

Cumulatively, during April-December this fiscal, exports recorded a growth of 1.6 per cent to USD 321.71 billion and imports by 5.15 per cent to USD 532.48 billion.

Trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, during April-December widened to USD 210.77 billion from USD 189.74 billion during the same period previous fiscal.

Briefing the media on the latest data, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that India's exports are doing better than other countries both in goods and services.

"This shows the resiliency of our exports. In all the three quarters of this fiscal also, we have done better. We are doing much better in non-petroleum exports," he told reporters here.

The ministry has recently held a meeting with commercial wings of Indian Missions in 20 countries to deliberate on issues impacting exports and ways to resolve them.

These 20 countries account for about 60 per cent of India's exports.

In December last year, Barthwal said sectors which have registered healthy growth in exports included electronics, engineering and pharmaceuticals.

When asked about the revision of gold and silver import data for November 2024, the secretary said a committee has been set up to create a robust mechanism for publishing consistent data.

The government revised gold import data for November 2024, bringing down numbers by USD 5 billion to USD 9.84 billion.

As per the revised data, exports in November 2024 were down by 5.06 per cent to USD 32.03 billion, while imports rose by 16 per cent to USD 63.86 billion. The trade deficit stood at USD 31.83 billion.

"The data revision keeps on happening...we are following global practices of data release," Barthwal said.

Gold imports during the month under review rose by 55.4 per cent to USD 4.7 billion against USD 3 billion in December 2023. On the other hand, silver imports jumped by 211 per cent to USD 421.91 million.

Raw cotton raw waste, used in the textiles industry, saw a surge in imports from USD 29.47 million in December 2023 to USD 142.89 million last month.

As per estimates, services export in December 2024 increased to USD 32.66 billion compared to USD 31.63 billion a year ago.

During April-December 2024-25, the exports rose by 11.61 per cent to USD 280.94 billion from USD 251.71 billion in the same period previous fiscal.

In December, India's shipment rose positively to the US, Saudi Arabia, France, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

During the month, the top five import sources were China, Switzerland, Thailand, Germany and the US.

Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ashwani Kumar said the decline can be attributed to volatility in commodity and metal prices, along with ongoing international trade disruptions and currency fluctuations.

Geopolitical tensions in the Gulf region further exacerbated logistical challenges, affecting export flows to key markets like Europe, Africa, and the CIS (commonwealth of independent states), he said.

Kumar said there is an urgent need for enhanced support in the upcoming Budget.