India's exports increased by 9% to $ 38.13 billion, trade deficit at a 7-month high

Despite global uncertainties, exports of goods from India increased by 9 percent year-on-year to $ 38.13 billion in May 2024. Goods worth $ 34.95 billion were exported from the country in the same period a year ago. The trade deficit also increased last month to a seven-month high of $ 23.78 billion. Earlier, the highest trade deficit of $ 31.46 billion was in October 2023.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Friday, due to increased purchases of crude oil, imports also increased by 7.7 percent to $ 61.91 billion in May. Imports worth $57.48 billion were made in May 2023. The ministry said that exports have increased due to better performance of sectors like engineering, electronics, medicine, textiles, and plastic. Earlier, in April 2024, the country's exports had declined to $41.68 billion. In the first two months of the current financial year i.e. April-May, exports grew by 5.1% to $73.12 billion. Imports also increased by 8.89% to $116 billion.

Exports of diamonds and jewellery fell 4.97% to Rs 20,713.37 crore in May. According to data from the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), gold jewellery exports increased 13.1% to Rs 5,507.71 crore. Exports of silver jewellery also increased to Rs 1,103.72 crore. However, gross exports of cut and polished diamonds fell from Rs 14,190.28 crore to Rs 12,270.54 crore.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said May has been an excellent month from the export point of view. This trend is expected to continue going forward. He said, inflation is coming down in advanced economies. This will help in increasing purchasing power, which will increase the demand for imports.

Services exports rose 11.74% year-on-year to $30.16 billion in May. This figure was $26.99 billion in the same period a year ago. Imports of services also rose 8.81% to $17.28 billion.

Crude oil imports rose 28% to $20 billion in May. Thus, crude imports rose 24.4% to $36.4 billion in the first two months of 2024-25. However, gold imports declined to $3.33 billion.

The five countries to which India exported the most include the US, Netherlands, UAE, Malaysia and the UK.