India's Trade Shows Resilience Amid Global Challenges

In February 2025, India's exports reached USD 71.95 billion, with services showing strong growth despite a slight month-over-month decline. The trade deficit narrowed due to falling imports, boosting the country's trade balance. Non-petroleum sectors, particularly rice and jewellery, experienced impressive growth despite global tensions.

According to the latest data from the Commerce Ministry, India's total exports, encompassing both merchandise and services, amounted to USD 71.95 billion in February 2025, a decline from USD 74.97 billion in January 2025. However, they showed an increase compared to USD 69.74 billion in February 2024.

In the merchandise category, exports dropped to USD 36.91 billion in February 2025 from USD 41.41 billion the previous year. Imports decreased significantly as well, falling to USD 50.96 billion from USD 60.92 billion in February 2024, which led to a reduction in the trade deficit for goods.

Conversely, the services sector saw a substantial rise, with exports climbing to USD 35.03 billion, up from USD 28.33 billion in February 2024. Although service imports increased to USD 16.55 billion from USD 15.23 billion, total imports combined reached USD 67.52 billion in February 2025, reflecting a significant reduction from USD 76.15 billion in February 2024. This improvement contributed to a better trade balance.

In January 2025, total exports grew to USD 74.97 billion from USD 68.33 billion in January 2024, indicating steady progress. However, the trade deficit widened to USD 2.67 billion as imports surged to USD 77.64 billion from USD 68.72 billion the year before. Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal highlighted the robust trade performance, with exports increasing by 7.21% from April 2024 to January 2025, amounting to an additional USD 46 billion year-over-year, including USD 5 billion in merchandise.

The non-petroleum export sector boasted a notable 14.47% growth in January 2025. Rice exports, in particular, soared by 44.61%, underscoring India's dominant position in the global market. Gems and jewellery exports also rebounded, recording a 15.9% increase in January 2025.

Despite global geopolitical tensions and trade tariff challenges, India's export growth highlights the resilience of its trade sector and strong demand for Indian goods and services worldwide. As of mid-January, exports for April-December 2024 reached an estimated USD 602.64 billion, rising 6.03% from USD 568.36 billion in the same 2023 period.

For the first nine months of FY2024, merchandise exports totalled USD 321.71 billion, marking a 1.6% increase from USD 316.65 billion in the previous year. Notably, December 2024 saw non-petroleum exports grow by 5.05%, amounting to USD 33.09 billion from USD 31.50 billion in December 2023.

(With inputs from agencies.)