NEW DELHI: Amid the cloud of uncertainty over the global trade with Donald Trump training the gun of reciprocal tariff, the goods trade deficit in January widened to $23 billion. Exports fell by 2.4% even as imports rose by 10.3% during the month.
Merchandise exports in January were $36.43 billion as against $37.32 billion a year-ago. Imports of goods during the month were $59.42 billion as against $53.88 billion a year ago. In December 2024, goods trade deficit was $16.6 billion.
Services exports rose by 24.3% to $38.55 billion, while imports jumped by 22.8% to $18.22 billion during the month. Total exports during the month rose by 9.72% to $75 billion while imports rose by 13% to $77.64 billion. Addressing the media after release of the January trade data, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal highlighted that non-petroleum exports grew by 14.5%.
Non-petroleum exports were driven by 79% growth in electronics exports. Gems and jewellery exports grew by 15.95% during the month. “If you look at this particular month (Jan), gems and jewelry exports, which were subdued earlier, for the first time have picked up and we can see some green shoots in our gems and jewelry sector.
It is a labour intensive sector, and it faced several challenges due to sanctions on Russian governments, the G7 countries regulations, etc. This is a positive signal because the sector is a very important sector for us,” said Barthwal while addressing the media.
The fall in merchandise exports was due to contraction in petroleum exports, which fell by 59% during the month. The fall in petroleum exports was due to rupee depreciation and narrowing discounts in Russian oil.
