India's annual trade deficit widens to $17.49 bn in Jan

India's merchandise exports in January 2024 experienced a growth of 3.12%, reaching $36.92 billion, compared to $35.80 billion in the same month last year, despite disruptions caused by the ongoing Red Sea crisis, global economic recession, and declining commodity prices. The exports, however, decreased from $38.45 billion in December 2023. Concurrently, merchandise imports in January 2024 totalled $54.41 billion, up from $52.83 billion in January 2023, though they declined from $58.25 billion in December 2023.

The trade deficit was recorded at $17.49 billion in January 2024, down from $19.8 billion in December 2023, but marginally up from $17.03 billion during the year-ago period in January 2023.

India's overall exports of merchandise and services for the period of April-January 2023-24 are estimated at $638.37 billion, down (-)0.19% compared to the same period in 2022-23. Similarly, imports from April-January 2023-24 are estimated at $708.79 billion, down (-)5.69% compared to April-January 2022-23.

The merchandise export growth in January 2024 was primarily fuelled by petroleum products, engineering goods, iron ore, electronic goods, and drugs & pharmaceuticals. Notable increases were recorded across various categories, contributing to the positive momentum in the country's trade performance.

In January 2024, exports of petroleum products reached $8.21 billion, marking a 6.57% increase from $7.70 billion in January 2023. The engineering goods sector saw a 4.20% rise in exports at $8.77 billion, up from $8.41 billion in January 2023. Electronic goods exports surged by 9.31%, totalling $2.30 billion in January 2024, compared to $2.11 billion in the same month the previous year. Meanwhile, the exports of drugs and pharmaceutical products were at $2.13 billion, a 6.84% increase from $2.00 billion in January 2023.

Throughout January 2024, there was a sustained growth in various agricultural products, with significant increases in tobacco (47.32%), meat, dairy & poultry products (26.12%), spices (20.50%), cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items (18.69%), oil meals (14.66%), oil seeds (11.34%), and fruits & vegetables (10.61%).

The overall trade deficit dipped 37.11% from $111.99 billion in April-January 2022-23 to $70.43 billion in April-January 2023-24. Moreover, the merchandise trade deficit also improved by 9.66%, decreasing from $229.37 billion in April-January 2022-23 to $207.20 billion in the corresponding period of 2023-24.

In the realm of trade, the non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports for January 2024 stood at $26.12 billion, outshining the previous January's figure of $25.48 billion. The non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (including the allure of gold, silver & precious metals) imports in January 2024 were at $33.72 billion, as compared to $34.51 billion in January 2023.