India witnessed a substantial 12% annualized growth in merchandise exports, reaching $41.4 billion in February, despite facing global challenges, thereby narrowing the contraction in the first 11 months of 2023-24 by 3.6% to $395 billion, as per a senior official’s statement.
Services exports in February amounted to $32.15 billion, marking a 17.3% year-on-year growth compared to February 2023’s $27.4 billion. Cumulatively, services exports for April 2023-February 2024 stood at $314.82 billion, a 7% increase from the same period in FY23, according to data disclosed by the commerce ministry.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal, while releasing the monthly trade data, expressed optimism, stating that the February figures surpassed the previous year’s, raising hopes for surpassing the FY23 numbers by the end of March.
In the financial year 2022-23, India’s merchandise exports exceeded $451 billion, while the overall exports (goods and services combined) reached a record $770 billion. In the first 11 months of 2023-24, the overall exports stood at $709.81 billion, a slight growth of 0.83% compared to April-February 2022-23’s $704 billion.
Barthwal highlighted the resilience of Indian exporters in the face of global challenges such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, recessions in several markets, and disruptions in logistics due to Red Sea disturbances, which led to significant growth in February.
The main drivers of exports in February were engineering goods, electronic goods, chemicals, petroleum products, drugs, and pharmaceuticals. Engineering goods saw a 15.9% year-on-year growth, while electronic goods experienced a notable 55% growth.
India’s trade deficit in February stood at $18.71 billion, mainly due to a surge in gold imports, which reached $6.15 billion, marking a 134% increase from the same period last year. Overall imports in February 2024 amounted to $60.11 billion, a 12.2% year-on-year increase.
India’s overall imports (goods and services combined) for April 2023-February 2024 were estimated at $782.05 billion, reflecting a contraction of 4.64% compared to the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) president Ashwani Kumar praised the impressive increase in overall export growth despite challenges like the Red Sea crisis and tight monetary policies in developed countries. He noted that recent tensions in West Asia have further strained the exporting community, particularly with increased freight costs.