India’s goods exports dropped 22% to hit 8-month low in June

Based on the updated figures from the Commerce Ministry, India's goods exports declined 22.02% year over year in June to reach an eight-month low of $32.97 billion, while imports fell 17.5% to $53.1 billion.

India's exports of goods fell in June for the seventh time in the previous nine months, but this time the decrease was particularly severe.

After rising by 6.7% in 2022–23 to reach a record $450 billion in goods exports, outbound shipments have since plummeted by 15.13% in Q1 2023–24 to just over $102 billion, while imports during the same period have fallen by 12.7% to $160.3 billion as per Export Import Data.

Sunil Barthwal, the secretary of commerce, stressed that the strong foundation from last June, when India recorded its highest monthly shipments of $42.3 billion, contributed to the perception that the decline in exports was steep.

Imports other than oil and gold sharply decreased by 14.5% after increasing 1.7% in May. Even though gold prices fell internationally, imports increased by 82.4%.

In a report arguing that the trade deficit is at a "manageable level," Barclays analysts Rahul Bajoria, Shreya Sodhani, and Amruta Ghare noted that imports of industrial goods were in the red following reasonably strong increases earlier.

Source: The Hindu