India’s overall exports grew by a healthy 5.5% in FY 2024-25, reaching USD 820.93 billion, reflecting the resilience of the export sector amid rising global geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions.
FIEO President, Mr S. C. Ralhan, welcomed the growth, highlighting the strong performance of the services sector, which played a key role in offsetting the modest growth in merchandise exports.
Merchandise exports for FY 2024-25 rose slightly by 0.08% to USD 437.42 billion, while imports increased by 6.62% to USD 720.24 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 282.82 billion. In March 2025 alone, exports grew 0.7% year-on-year to USD 41.97 billion, with imports rising 11.3% to USD 63.51 billion - leading to a monthly trade deficit of USD 21.54 billion.
Mr Ralhan called for strategic support to sustain export momentum, including:
(1) Enhancing export competitiveness
(2) Diversifying products and markets
(3) Addressing logistics and infrastructure gaps
(4) Easing regulatory burdens and improving access to affordable credit
He reaffirmed FIEO’s commitment to working closely with the government and industry to ensure sustained growth in the face of global challenges, as per a release.
Trade highlights for March 2025 and FY 2024-25
Exports of coffee (39.2%), drugs & pharmaceuticals (31.21%), electronic goods (29.57%), marine products (28.56%), jute mfg. including floor covering (21.67%), meat, dairy & poultry products (16.62%), tobacco (13.95%), tea (11.25%), gems & jewellery (10.62%), fruits & vegetables (8.57%), rice (7.62%), carpets (6.52%), mica, coal & other ores, minerals including processed minerals (6.35%), rmg of all textiles (3.97%), leather & leather products (3.48%), cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items (3.35%), cotton yarn/fabs./made-ups, handloom products etc. (2.16%), and plastic & linoleum (1.56%) recorded positive growth during March 2025 over the corresponding month of last year.
Exports of tea (11.84%), coffee (40.37%), rice (19.73%), tobacco (36.53%), spices (4.78%), fruits & vegetables (5.67%), cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items (8.71%), marine products (0.45%), meat, dairy & poultry products (12.57%), mica, coal & other ores, minerals including processed minerals (6.95%), leather and leather products (2.06%), drugs and pharmaceuticals (9.39%), engineering goods (6.74%), electronics goods (32.47%), cotton yarn/fabs/made-ups etc. (3.19%), man-made/yarn/fabs/made-ups etc. (4.07%), rmg of textiles (10.03%), jute mfg. including floor covering (13.35%), carpets (10.46%), and plastic & linoleum (10.23%) registered positive growth during FY 2024-25 over the previous FY 2023-24.
Imports of project goods (-87.25%), silver (-85.39%), coal, coke & briquettes, etc. (-30.18%), transport equipment (-25.53%), pulses (-23.45%), newsprint (-17.99%), pearls, precious & semi-precious stones (-13.77%) and pulp and waste paper (-11.8%) recorded negative growth during March 2025 over the corresponding month of last year.
Imports of fertilisers, crude & manufactured (-2.21%), coal, coke & briquettes (20.03%), dyeing/tanning/colouring materials (-13.42%), newsprint (-2.71%), pearls, precious & semi-precious stones (-24.41%), iron & steel (-4.61%), project goods (-18.45%), and silver (-11.24%) registered negative growth during FY 2024-25 over the previous year FY 2023-24.
Services exports grew by approx. 12.45% during FY 2024-25 over FY 2023-24.
The top 5 export destinations, in terms of change in value, exhibiting positive growth in March 2025 vis-à-vis March 2024 were the US (35.06%), Australia (70.81%), Kenya (98.46%), Togo (46.52%) and the UK (8.43%).
The top 5 export destinations, in terms of change in value, exhibiting positive growth in FY 2024-25 vis-à-vis FY 2023-24 were the US (11.59%), UK (12.08%), Japan (21.12%), UAE (2.84%) and France (11.42%).
The top 5 import sources, in terms of change in value, exhibiting growth in March 2025 vis-à-vis March 2024 were the UAE (57.25%), China (25.02%), Saudi Arabia (44.03%), Kuwait (93.8%) and Ireland (208.09%).
The top 5 import sources, in terms of change in value, exhibiting growth in FY 2024-25 vis-à-vis FY 2023-24 were the UAE (32.06%), China (11.52%), Thailand (43.99%), US (7.44%) and Russia (4.39%), informed a release.
Source: Exim News Service: New Delhi, April 16