NEW DELHI: India experienced a 16% decline in merchandise exports to $32.25 billion in July, reaching a nine-month low owing to weak demand from major trading partners like China, EU and the US, government data showed.
Merchandise imports in July also witnessed a 17% decline to $52.92 billion, compared to $63.77 billion in July 2022. This decrease was primarily driven by a fall in imports of petroleum, coal, organic chemicals, silver, and other items. The decrease in inbound shipments of petroleum products can be attributed to
falling prices.
The merchandise trade deficit in July expanded to $20.67 billion. In June, the trade deficit had narrowed to $20.13 billion, down from $22.1 billion in May. However, on a year-on-year basis, the trade deficit decreased by 18.7% compared to $25.43 billion a year ago.
According to Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, amid global slowdown when most countries are reporting negative import and export growth, India’s fall in exports is not as high as it is elsewhere. He added that the drop in exports is largely due to a decline in outbound shipments of petroleum products in value terms, adding that, in volume terms there has been an increase.
As per a senior Commerce Ministry official, export of electronic goods recorded a surge by $2.46 billion. Smartphone exports grew 126% during April-July 2023 compared to the same period last year. He stated that the merchandise imports from China fell during the period and imports from Russia have almost doubled.