India’s trade deficit hits all-time high of $37.84 billion in November, gold imports at record high of $14.8 billion

India’s merchandise exports fell 4.85 percent to $32.11 billion in November from $33.75 billion a year earlier, according to government data released on December 16. Imports rose 27 percent to $69.95 billion in November dollars against 55.06 billion dollars in the previous month.

The import of gold in November reached a historical maximum of 14.8 billion dollars.

The trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, widened to $37.84 billion during the month as imports rose against exports, the highest monthly trade deficit so far.

In April-November of this fiscal year, exports increased by 2.17 percent and amounted to 284.31 billion dollars, while imports increased by 8.35 percent and amounted to 486.73 billion dollars.

Exports of the country’s goods increased by 17.25 percent in October of this year to 39.2 billion dollars.

India’s merchandise exports stood at $32.11 billion in November, while merchandise imports stood at $69.95 billion, commerce ministry data released on December 16 showed.

India’s merchandise exports so far in the April-November period were up 2.2 percent at $284.31 billion from $278.26 billion a year ago.

India’s total exports of goods and services totaled $67.79 billion in November, a year-on-year increase of $9.6 billion, commerce ministry data showed today, from $61.85 billion in the same month last year.

Merchandise exports, however, fell from $33.75 billion to $32.11 billion, while services exports rose from $28.11 billion to $35.67 billion in the month.

So far in 2024-25, India’s total exports are now around $536.25 billion, up 7.6 percent year-on-year from $498.33 billion a year ago on reaching the $800 billion goal.

The country’s imports increased year-on-year in November, the data showed. The same happened in September and October. Total imports, both goods and services combined, increased from $68.74 billion to $87.63 billion.

The trade deficit, considering the difference between exports and imports, has increased from $66.91 billion to $82.95 billion in 2024-25.

In the previous fiscal year, 2023-24, India recorded a record export of $778 billion.In 2022-23, the country exported goods and services totaling $776.3 billion.

Exports of services rose to $341.1 billion from $325.3 billion in 2023-24, while exports of goods declined marginally from $451.1 billion to $437.1 billion.

The overall trade deficit has improved significantly from $121.6 billion in 2022-2022 to $75.6 billion in 2023-24.

Among the various steps taken by the government was to launch the Manufacturing Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in various sectors, including electronic goods, to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investment, expand exports, integrate India into the global supply chain, and reduce dependence on imports.These seem to be reaping dividends .