Trade deficit narrows to $ 21.94 bn in Dec

India’s merchandise trade deficit — the gap between imports and exports — narrowed to $ 21.94 billion in December 2024. The decline in deficit is mainly due to surge in exports and decline in imports.

India’s merchandise trade deficit was $32.84 billion in November (trade deficit for November has been revised as the gold import amount was over counted), $27.14 billion in October, $20.78 billion in September and $29.7 billion in August. In July, the merchandise trade deficit was $23.5 billion. The deficit was $20.98 billion in June, $23.78 billion in May and $19.1 billion in April.

However, compared to December 2023, imports grew by 4.90 per cent to $59.95 billion in December 2024, while exports declined by one per cent to $38.01 billion during the month, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data.

On an annual basis, trade deficit widened in December 2024 compared to December 2023. The merchandise trade deficit was $18.76 billion in the December 2023, according to the data.

Despite global headwinds, some sectors have driven the country’s export growth.

The major drivers of merchandise exports growth in December were other cereals which grew by 67.89 per cent, rice (64.03 per cent), jute manufacturing including floor covering (51.63 per cent), cashew (45.7 per cent), coffee (36.88 per cent) and electronic goods (35.11 per cent). During April-December this fiscal year, exports increased by 1.6 per cent to USD 321.71 billion while imports increased by 5.15 per cent to USD 532.48 billion.