New Delhi, Dec 15 : Amid demand slowdown in major advanced economies, India’s merchandise exports contracted 2.83% year-on-year to US $33.90 billion in November 2023.
India’s merchandise export value stood at US$ 34.89 billion in the corresponding period last year.
With merchandise imports also declining in November this year, the trade deficit during the month narrowed to US$ 20.58 billion.
In November 2023, the total value of merchandise imports was US$ 54.48 billion, as against US$ 56.95 billion in November 2022, thus registering a 4.33% decline.
Commenting on November trade data, ICRA Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said that India’s merchandise trade deficit unexpectedly shrunk in November 2023, and a better-than-expected performance of exports resulted in a narrower deficit of US$ 20 billion as compared to our projection (US$23.5 billion).
“Over the remainder of this fiscal year, we project the monthly trade deficit in a range of US$20-25 billion, resulting in a current account deficit of around 2.5% of GDP in Q3 FY2024 and 1.7% of GDP in Q4 FY2024,” she said.
As per official data released on Friday, overall exports (merchandise and services) in November this year were US$ 62.58 billion as against US$ 61.82 billion in the same month last year, showing a marginal increase of 1.22%.
India’s service exports in November were US$ 28.69 billion, while imports were US$ 13.4 billion.
India’s exports sector has been facing challenges emanating primarily from global slowdowns, geopolitical issues, and weak demand in some of the major economies.
During the first eight months of the current financial year 2023-24, India’s merchandise exports fell 6.51% year-on-year to $278.80 billion.
During the same period, imports slid 8.67% to $445.15 billion.
