India's Merchandise Trade Deficit Widens To All-Time High Of $37.8 Billion In November

India's merchandise trade deficit widened to a record high in November, led by a jump in gold imports.

• Exports of engineering goods stood at $8.9 billion, 13.8% lower year-on-year.

• Petroleum product exports were at $3.7 billion, 49.7% lower than a year earlier.

• Gems and jewellery exports were at $2.1 billion, 26.3% lower on an annual basis.

• Organic and inorganic chemical exports were at $2 billion, 4.1% lower on an annual basis.

• Drugs and pharmaceutical exports were at $2.1 billion, 1.1% higher than over a year earlier.

• Electronic exports were at $3.5 billion, 54.7% higher than over a year earlier.

• Petroleum, crude, and product imports were up 7.9% from a year ago at $16.1 billion.

• Organic and inorganic chemical imports were at $2.5 billion, 1.3% lower on an annual basis.

• Imports of coal, coke, and briquettes were down 29.3% from a year ago at $2.4 billion.

• Imports of electronic goods were at $7.6 billion, 17.4% higher than a year earlier. 

• Machinery, electrical, and non-electrical goods were at $4.5 billion, down 12.9% over the previous year. 

• Gold imports stood at $14.9 billion, 331.3% higher than a year ago.

"Despite the unexpected surge in gold imports, we maintain that FY25 CAD/GDP is likely to track at 1.1% of GDP, as better-than-expected growth in net services exports will largely offset sharply higher gold imports," said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay.