NEW DELHI: Amid global headwinds, India’s merchandise exports plunged to $34.8 billion in December, 2022, 12.2% down on-yearly basis as compared with $39.27 billion in the previous year, government data showed.
However, merchandise exports for the period April-December 2022 registered a growth of 9% to $332.76 billion on a year-on-year basis. Meanwhile, imports in December also fell to $58.24 billion as compared with $60.33 billion in the same month of last year. Overall imports during April-December grew to $551.70 billion as against $441.50 billion in the corresponding period of last year.
The services export for December 2022 stood at $27.34 billion, as compared to $25.98 billion in December 2021. Whereas services import for December 2022 stood at $15.56 billion as compared to $14.94 billion in December 2021. The trade deficit in the April-December period widened to $218.94 billion, 60% increase over the previous year during the same period.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said despite global headwinds, India’s exports have held its head high. He said India needs to revise its export targets in a way that it can reap benefits from the countries that have positive GDP growth like Brazil. He added that the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made a forecast of a slowdown in the global exports scenario and the International Monetary Fund has also made a projection of negative GDP growth in some countries.
The exports of electronic goods during the period April-December 2022 recorded $16.67 billion as compared to USD 10.99 billion during the same period last year registering a growth of 51.56%. Exports of petroleum products in April-December 2022 was at $70.28 billion, registering a growth of 52.15% as against $46.19 billion in April-December 2021. More than $6 billion worth of smartphones were exported during the period April-November 2022, the commerce ministry said.
‘Need to look at sub-standard imports from China’
Import of essential items from China should continue as it is important for the overall economy of the country, a top government official said. However, he said there is a need to look into the import of items those of which are of sub-standard quality, which Indian consumers may be not aware of. ENS