Exports up by 9.6%, imports rise 27.5% in November; trade deficit widens to USD 19.8 billion

New Delhi [India], December 16 : India's overall exports, merchandise and services combined, in November were to the tune of USD 67.79 billion, a 9.6 rise on a yearly basis, Commerce Ministry data showed on Monday. Same month last year it was USD 61.85 billion.
Exports of merchandise goods, however, declined from USD 33.75 billion to USD 32.11 billion and exports of services rose from USD 28.11 to USD 35.67 billion during the month.
So far in 2024-25, April-November, India's total exports now stood at around USD 536.25 billion, up 7.60 year-on-year versus USD 498.33 billion a year ago period. The government has expressed optimism about reaching its full-year target of USD 800 billion.
The country's imports too increased year-on-year in November, data showed today. The same was the case in September and October.
The overall imports, both merchandise and services combined, increased from USD 68.74 billion to USD 87.63 billion.
Trade deficit, meaning the difference between the exports and the imports, it widened from USD 66.91 billion to USD 82.95 billion so far in 2024-25.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, said, "If you look at our export strategy, we are focusing on 20 countries where export potential we feel is quite high in this year as well as next years."
"We are also focusing on six manufacturing sectors where we feel that India has developed a good production capability, and there is a good export potential in these six manufacturing sector...We have also identified six services sector including IT, where we feel that there is a good potential...We have been also holding meetings with missions on how to have the strategy on these 20 countries. Now we are planning some more meetings with different missions based on the timelines."
In the previous financial year 2023-24, India registered record exports at USD 778 billion. In 2022-23, the country exported goods and services combined at USD 776.3 billion.
In break up, services exports rose from USD 325.3 billion to USD 341.1 billion in 2023-24. Merchandise exports though marginally declined from USD 451.1 billion to USD 437.1 billion.
Overall trade deficit significantly improved from USD 121.6 billion in 2022-23 to USD 75.6 billion in 2023-24.
Among various steps the government took was to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in varied sectors, including electronic goods, to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investments, enhance exports, integrate India into the global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports. These seemed to have reaped dividends.