Exports shrink 4.85% in Nov, trade deficit widens to record $37.84 bn

New Delhi: After recording double-digit growth in October, India’s exports in November contracted by 4.85 per cent year-on-year to $32.11 billion, while the trade deficit widened to an all-time high of $37.84 billion due to record surge in gold imports.

According to the commerce ministry data, imports rose by 27 per cent year-on-year to a record $69.95 billion in November due to high inbound shipments of vegetable oil, fertiliser, and silver.

Cumulatively, during April-November this fiscal, exports increased by 2.17 per cent to $284.31 billion and imports by 8.35 per cent to $486.73 billion.

Trade deficit, the difference between imports and exports, during April-November widened to $202.42 billion from $170.98 billion during April-November 2023. Briefing on the data, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that fluctuations in oil prices are impacting the exports.

Petroleum product shipments have declined by about 50 per cent to $3.71 billion last month. During the first eight months of this fiscal also, these exports contracted by 19 per cent year-on-year to $44.6 billion.

However, the secretary said that non-oil exports are still recording healthy growth, and this along with services sector would help the country cross $800 billion of total exports by end of this fiscal.

On high trade deficit and imports, the secretary said one should not be concerned about this as the country is growing.

“Therefore, our demand for imports will be higher. As long as out exports and foreign direct investments are growing, it will finance our imports,” he said.

He also said that the ministry is focusing on 20 countries and six services and manufacturing sectors including IT/ITeS to further boost the shipments.

In these 20 nations, there are huge potential to increase exports and to tap into that, the ministry is in touch with the Indian missions abroad.

The ministry is calling a meeting with these missions in January next year and “we will be devising a strategy on how to improve exports in the 20 countries”, Barthwal said.

As per estimates, services export in November 2024 increased to $35.67 billion as compared to $28.11 billion in November 2023.

These exports reached an all-time high of $34.31 billion in October, registering an increase of 22.3 per cent year-on-year.

Crude oil imports last month rose by 7.9 per cent to $16.11 billion. At export front, key sectors that registered negative growth during the month under review included oil meals, iron ore, coal, gems and jewellery, chemicals and handicrafts.

However, sectors that recorded positive growth are textiles, engineering goods, electronics, pharma and spices.

Raw cotton raw waste, used in the textiles industry, saw a surge in imports from $30.61 million in November 2023 to $170.73 million last month.