Indian goods exports dip in November, imports grow

Driven by price fluctuation in petroleum products, India saw its merchandise exports dip and imports rise in November 2024.

The latest monthly data shared by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry shows that on a month-on-month basis, India exported $32.11 billion worth of goods in November 2024 as compared to $33.75 billion in November 2023. Merchandise imports grew to $69.95 billion during November 2024 compared to $55.06 billion in November 2023.

However, non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in November 2024 were $26.33 billion, higher than $23.55 billion registered during the same month last year. In terms of imports, the increase in non-petroleum, non-gems & gold, silver & precious metals imports in November 2024, at $37.36 billion compared to $35.20 billion in November 2023, was not high as overall merchandise imports.

The major drivers of merchandise exports growth in November 2024 include electronic goods, engineering goods, rice, marine products and readymade garments of all textiles. While electronic goods exports increased by 54.72% from $2.24 billion in November 2023 to $3.47 billion in November 2024, engineering goods exports increased by 13.75 % from $7.82 billion in November 2023 to $8.90 billion in November 2024. The export growth for other products was rice (95.18% from $0.59 billion in November 2023 to $1.14 billion in November 2024), marine products (17.82% from $0.64 billion in November 2023 to $0.76 billion in November 2024) and RMG of all textiles exports (9.81% from $1.02 billion in November 2023 to $1.12 billion in November 2024).

India’s top five export destinations, in terms of change in value, exhibiting positive growth in November 2024 vis a vis November 2023 are UAE (11.38%), Australia (64.38%), Italy (37.71%), Singapore (22.88%) and Malaysia (27.31%).

In the case of services trade, the ministry estimates the value of services exports for November 2024 to be around $35.67 billion as compared to $28.11 billion in November 2023. The estimated value of services imports for November 2024 is $17.68 billion as compared to $13.68 billion in November 2023.

The cumulative overall exports during April-November 2024 are estimated at $536.25 billion, as compared to $498.33 billion in April-November 2023, with an estimated growth of 7.61%.