India’s trade deficit declines to $19.8 billion in December

New Delhi: India’s merchandise trade deficit declined to $19.8 billion in December from $23.14 billion recorded in the same month previous year due to decline in imports, as per official data released on Monday. 

Trade deficit, or gap between the country’s exports and imports, has also eased sequentially. It was recorded at $20.58 billion in November from a high of $31.46 billion in October. 

India’s merchandise exports increased marginally to $38.45 billion in December 2023 from $38.08 billion recorded in the same month previous year. While imports declined from $61.22 billion in December 2022 to $58.25 billion in December 2023. 

Addressing a media briefing Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the level of exports recorded in December is among the highest monthly number. 

Cumulative merchandise exports for the period April-December 2023 declined to $317.12 billion as against $336.30 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

Barthwal expressed confidence that India’s shipments would pick up pace in the January-March quarter. 

Merchandise imports for the period April-December 2023 declined to $505.15 billion as against $548.64 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year. 

A sharp decline in imports helped narrow the trade deficit. It declined from $212.34 billion in April-December 2022 to $188.02 billion in April-December 2023. 

India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) declined by 4.25% year-on-year to $66.33 billion in December. Overall imports in December 2023 stood at $71.50 billion, which is 7.18% down when compared with the same month previous year. 

However, there was a sharp drop in services exports during the month. Services exports declined to $27.88 billion in December 2023 from $31.19 billion in the same month previous year.