India's exports declined for the third month in a row in January, falling by 2.38 per cent year-on-year to $36.43 billion, while the trade deficit widened to $22.99 billion in the month.
Imports rose by 10.28 per cent year-on-year to $59.42 billion in January due to an increase gold shipments, according to the Commerce Ministry data.
The trade deficit was $21.94 billion in December and $16.55 billion in January last year.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters that despite economic uncertainties in the world, India's exports are doing better in both goods and services sectors.
He said that sectors like electronics, pharma, rice and gems and jewellery are registering health growth rates during the month under review.
"Despite conflicts, and tariff retaliation around the world, we are doing well," Barthwal said, adding India's goods and services exports would cross $800 billion in 2025-25.
Total exports were worth $778 billion in 2023-24.
In January, gold imports rose to $2.68 billion from $1.9 billion in the same month last year.
Gold imports were $4.7 billion in December 2024.
Crude oil imports fell to $13.43 billion from $16.56 billion in January 2024 and $15.27 billion in December 2024.
The data showed that the estimated value of services exports for January 2025 was $38.55 billion compared to $31.01 billion in January 2024.
Imports, on the other hand, are estimated at $18.22 billion compared to $14.84 billion in January 2024.
On the goods front, key export sectors, including petroleum, and chemicals, have registered negative growth during the month under review.
Petroleum product shipments declined by 58.66 per cent to $3.56 billion last month.
However, textiles, electronics, engineering, rice and marine products recorded healthy growth in January this year.
Cumulatively, during April-January this fiscal, exports rose by 1.39 per cent to $358.91 billion and imports by 7.43 per cent to $601.9 billion.
Trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, during the ten-month period widened to $242.99 billion.
During the first ten months of this fiscal, petroleum product exports contracted by 24.76 per cent year-on-year to $53.06 billion.
Commenting on the data, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Ashwani Kumar said the decline can be attributed to the volatility in commodity and metal prices, as well as ongoing trade disruptions such as the tariff war and currency fluctuations.
Kumar however said this surge in imports, coupled with the widening trade deficit, has raised alarms about potential impacts on domestic industries and the overall trade balance.
"The depreciating value of the Indian rupee, which has fallen by 1.4 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of the year, further exacerbates the nation's trade challenges," he said adding the depreciation has contributed to higher import bills, especially since India meets 90 per cent of its oil demand from overseas.
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