- India's trade deficit widened to $31.9 billion in July 2026 from $27.88 billion last year
- Merchandise imports rose 17.5% to $76.22 billion, exports increased 19.6% to $44 billion
- Exports of electronics, engineering goods, gems, iron ore, and meat showed strong growth
India's trade deficit widened to $31.9 billion in the month of July from $27.88 in the year-ago period, according to the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics on Thursday.
The trade deficit was in-line with Bloomberg analysts' consensus estimates of $30.5 billion. Imports outpaced exports in July, even as exports grew at a faster pace compared to the same period last year.
Merchandise imports rose 17.5% year-on-year to $76.22, while exports rose 19.6% to $44 billion. However, Overall merchandise trade deficit has declined to 26.5% of total trade, compared to 27.3% last year.
Petroleum products, electronics goods, engineering goods, gems and jewellery, iron ore, and meat and poultry were among the top-performing export sectors. Electronics goods exports rose 30% year-on-year, engineering goods exports increased 18%, gems and jewellery exports grew 6%, iron ore exports rose 33%, while meat and poultry exports increased 45%.
Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, Australia, Spain, Austria, ASEAN exports saw major upswing Kenya, SACU region saw growth in first 4 months this year.
Services exports came in higher than imports, for July they stood at $35.89 billion, while imports stood at $18.94 billion.
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West Asia Recovery
India's trade with West Asia is back up after crisis. In July, merchandise exports to West Asia at $5.7 billion, up from $5.2 bilion last year.
The country has slowly recovered losses booked during West Asia crisis, and exports getting stabilised to last years' level.
The Commerce Ministry said India recorded its best-ever July merchandise exports at $44.2 billion. It added that India's trade deficit as a percentage of total trade declined to 26.5% in July 2026 from 29.1% in July 2024.
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