NEW DELHI: Showing signs of improvement, the country's exports grew 22.47 per cent year-on-year to USD 6.75 billion in the first week of November, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and engineering sectors, an official said on Tuesday.
The exports during the first week of November last year was USD 5.51 billion.
Imports in November (1st - 7th) this year too increased by 13.64 per cent year-on-year to USD 9.30 billion as against USD 8.19 billion, the official said.
Imports, excluding petroleum, jumped 23.37 per cent during the week, the official added.
Trade deficit during the week stood at USD 2.55 billion.
Exports of pharmaceuticals, and gems and jewellery grew 32 per cent to USD 139.12 million and 88.8 per cent to USD 3,360.71 million, respectively.
Similarly, the outbound shipments of engineering goods increased by 16.7 per cent to USD 215.13 million during the week.
Sectors which recorded negative growth include petroleum, marine products and leather goods.
During the period, exports to the US, Hong Kong and Singapore rose by 53.91 per cent, 176.2 per cent and 90.76 per cent, respectively.
The country's export had also recorded positive growth in September but declined 5.4 per cent to USD 24.82 billion in October.