New Delhi: The Commerce Ministry on Friday revised the base year of India’s Merchandise Trade Indices from 2012–13 to 2022–23 to reflect structural shifts in the economy, changing commodity composition, evolving trade patterns and closer alignment with current macroeconomic indicators.
The indices are compiled and released by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), an arm of the ministry.
They serve as key indicators of price movements in the external sector and are widely used for economic analysis, national accounts compilation and assessment of terms of trade.
The ministry said the base year is periodically updated to capture changes in India’s trade structure and global trade dynamics.
As part of the revision, commodity coverage and classification have been reviewed at the principal commodity level to better reflect emerging and declining items.
Over the past decade, India’s trade basket has evolved significantly due to new products, technological advances, supply chain realignments and shifts in relative prices, making the 2012–13 base less representative.
The updated series is expected to improve relevance, reliability and analytical value for policymakers and researchers.
The National Accounts Division uses the indices as deflators in GDP estimates, while the RBI relies on them for balance of payments and competitiveness analysis. Agencies