NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise trade deficit shrunk to a five-month low of $17.42 billion as export witnessed a 25.28% year-on-year growth to $34.50 billion in January 2022. Merchandise imports grew at a slower pace than the exports at 23.54% during the month to $51.93 billion.
The trade deficit in December 2021 was $21.68 billion. In January 2021, the trade deficit was at $14.5 billion. India’s overall exports, including merchandise and services combined, were estimated to be $61.41 billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 36.76% over the same period last year. The overall imports in January 2022 were $67.76 billion, exhibiting a slower rate of growth of 30.54% over the same period last year and a positive growth of 30.19% over January 2020.
The non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in January 2022 were $27.10 billion, registering growth of 20.13%. The estimated value of services export for January 2022 was $ 26.91 billion, exhibiting a growth of 54.95% and growth of 46.57%. The services trade deficit in January was $11.07 billion, up 47.86% from January 2021 ($7.49 billion) and an increase of 48.38% over January 2020 ($7.46 billion).
" The fall in mobility and the demand for gold with the onset of the third wave and the associated restrictions, helped to pull back the merchandise trade deficit to a five-month low $17.4 billion in January 2022," said Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist of ICRA.
$51.93 bn Imports during January 2022
$17.43 bn Trade deficit during January 2022
$335.88 bn Total exports during April 2021-January 2022