India’s overall exports in May 2023 stood at US$ 60.29 Billion. During the month, electronic goods export witnessed a significant increase of 73.96 % and cumulatively in April-May 2023 of 48.06% over corresponding period last year. Similarly, agricultural exports also registered a robust growth. Spices grew by 31.81% in April-May 2023 over April-May 2022, while rice exports grew by 19% in April-May 2023 over April-May 2022. During this period oil meals exports grew by 74.33% in April-May 2023 over April-May 2022 and ceramic products and glassware showed an impressive growth with 17.36% in May 2023 and cumulatively by 17.29 % in April-May 2023 over the corresponding period last year.
Owing to this impressive performance by a number of sectors, trade balance improved considerably in April-May 2023. Overall trade deficit for April-May 2023 was estimated at US$ 13.28 Billion as compared to the deficit of US$ 20.56 Billion during April-May 2022, registering a decline of 35.41%. Merchandise trade deficit during April-May 2023 stood at US$ 37.26 Billion compared to US$ 40.48 Billion during April-May 2022, registering a decline of 7.95 percent.
India’s trade performance, after witnessing very strong growth in 2022-23, has shown declining trends as compared to high base of last year as the pace of growth in global merchandise exports moderated significantly in 2023, as persisting geopolitical tensions and monetary tightening induced recessionary fears have led to a decline in consumer spending across advanced nations.
However, for the month of May 2023, under merchandise exports, 13 of the 30 key sectors exhibited positive growth in May 2023 as compared to the same period last year. These include Electronic Goods (73.96%), Other Cereals (67.96%), Oil Meals (52.91%), Spices (49.84%), Iron Ore (48.26%), Oil Seeds (25.02%), Fruits & Vegetables (19.91%), Ceramic Products & Glassware (17.36%), Rice (14.27%), Tea (8.81%), Cashew (2.81%), Coffee (1.71%) and Drugs & Pharmaceuticals (0.78%).
Exports of electronic goods increased by 73.96 percent during May 2023 at USD 2.42 Billion as compared to USD 1.39 Billion in May 2022. During April-May 2023 electronic goods exports were recorded at USD 4.54 Billion as compared to USD 3.06 Billion during April-May 2022, registering a growth of 48.06 percent.
Enabling policies facilitating greater investment in electronics, mobile manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc. have resulted in visible growth in these sectors. The effect of duty withdrawal on Iron Ore is visible on India’s exports of the item which have exhibited positive growth of 48.26 percent during May 2023 over the same month in 2022.
Textiles, Plastic and Linoleum exports continued to decline in May 2023 because of subdued demand due to recessionary effects in major economies. The WTO trade growth projection has been revised to 1.7% from earlier projection of 1%, it is anticipated that demand revival is expected from July-August 2023 onwards.
Under merchandise imports, 16 key sectors exhibited negative growth in May 2023. For April-May 2023, under merchandise exports, 13 of the 30 key sectors exhibited positive growth during April-May 2023 as compared to April-May 2022. These include Oil Meals (74.33%), Electronic Goods (48.06%), Spices (31.81%), Oil Seeds (20.94%), Rice (19%), Ceramic Products & Glassware (17.29%), Fruits & Vegetables (14.13%), Other Cereals (10.43%), Iron Ore (5.24%), Drugs & Pharmaceuticals (5.11%), Tea (3.03%), Coffee (2.98%) and Tobacco (2.01%).
Agricultural exports have also been robust, registering promising growth. The decline in import value of petroleum, vegetable oil, coal, coke & briquette, etc has been largely on account of decline in commodity prices. Decline in gold import has been largely on account of import duty. Services exports remain strong and projected to grow at 4.01 percent during April-May 2023 over April-May 2022. India’s trade deficit has shown considerable decline in April-May 2023. Overall trade deficit for April-May 2023 is estimated at USD 13.28 Billion as compared to the deficit of USD 20.56 Billion during April-May 2022, registering a decline of 35.41 percent. The merchandise trade deficit during April-May 2023 was USD 37.26 Billion compared to USD 40.48 Billion during April-May 2022, registering a decline of 7.95 percent.
