India’s goods exports declined 12.7 per cent (year-on-year) in April 2023 to $ 34.66 billion as recessionary trends in some developed economies and the lingering effect of the Russia-Ukraine conflict started making an “active impact’’, according to the Commerce & Industry Ministry. 

The trade deficit during the month narrowed to $15.2 billion from $18.4 billion in April 2022, as imports posted a steeper fall of about 14 per cent to $49.9 billion, per quick estimates released by the government on Monday.

“Combined with this (the recession in some rich nations and the Ukraine war), there has been a cooling down of commodity prices, especially petroleum prices. The impact is visible both on exports and imports,” Director General of Foreign Trade Santosh Kumar Sarangi said at a press briefing on Monday.

The export numbers for 2022–23 for goods and services have been revised upwards to $776 billion, which is $100 billion more than the previous fiscal, the DGFT said. While goods exports have now crossed $450 billion (from $447.46 billion estimated earlier), services exports have increased to $325.44 billion (from $320 billion).

Top exports

India’s top export items in April 2023 included engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, while its top imports comprised petroleum, electronic goods, machinery, coal, and chemicals, per the data.

Due to low demand in key markets such as the US and the EU, export performance is likely to be subdued over the next two to three months, the DGFT said. Global demand may, however, start rising in August and September due to the possible opening up of the Chinese economy and an improvement in the situation in Western markets, he added.

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