India’s April-November trade deficit hits $106.85 billion
13 Dec 2019
India added $12.12 billion to its merchandise trade deficit, taking the country’s overall trade deficit in the first eight months of the current fiscal (April-November 2019-20) to $106.85 billion.
At $12.12 billion, the trade deficit for November 2019 was, however, much lower compared to the deficit of $17.58 billion in November 2018.
Merchandise exports from the country in November 2019 stood at $25.98 billion (Rs1,85,644.81 crore) compared to $26.07 billion (Rs1,87,335.14 crore) in November 2018, showing a negative growth of (-) 0.34 per cent in dollar terms and a negative growth of (-) 0.90 per cent in rupee terms.
Cumulative value of exports for April-November 2019-20 stood at $211.93 billion (Rs14,89,793.87 crore) against $216.23 billion (Rs15,05,216.55 crore) during April-November 2018-19, registering a negative growth of (-) 1.99 per cent in dollar terms and a negative growth of (-) 1.02 per cent in rupee terms.
Exports of goods other than petroleum and gems and jewellery products in November 2019 stood at $19.31 billion, compared to $18.55 billion in November 2018, showing a growth of 4.08 per cent. Such exports during April-November 2019-20 stood at $156.76 billion, compared to $156.49 billion during the corresponding period in 2018-19, an increase of 0.17 per cent.
India imported goods worth $38.11 billion (Rs2,72,274.45 crore) in November 2019 which was 12.71 per cent lower in dollar terms and 13.20 per cent lower in rupee terms over imports of $43.66 billion (Rs3,13,680.85 crore) in November 2018.
Cumulative value of imports for the period April-November 2019-20 stood at $318.78 billion (Rs22,39,900.18 crore), against $349.96 billion (Rs24,37,538.61 crore) during April-November 2018-19, registering a negative growth of (-) 8.91 per cent in dollar terms and a negative growth of (-) 8.11 per cent in rupee terms.
Crude oil imports in November 2019 stood at $11.06 billion (Rs79,040.21 crore), which was 18.17 per cent lower in dollar terms and 18.63 per cent lower in rupee terms, compared to $13.52 billion (Rs97,134.45 crore) in November 2018. Oil imports in April-November 2019-20 stood at $84.99 billion (Rs5,97,310.87 crore) which was 12.99 per cent lower in dollar terms and 12.35 per cent lower in rupee terms compared to $97.69 billion (Rs6,81,497 crore) during the comparable period last year.
Non-oil imports in November 2019 were estimated at $27.04 billion (Rs1,93,234.24 crore), which was 10.26 per cent lower in dollar terms and 10.77 per cent lower in rupee terms compared to $30.14 billion (Rs2,16,546.40 crore) in November 2018.
Non-oil imports in April-November 2019-20 stood at $233.78 billion (Rs16,42,589.31 crore), which was 7.33 per cent lower in dollar terms and 6.46 per cent lower in Rupee terms compared to $252.27 billion Rs17,56,041.60 crore in April-November 2018-19.
Imports of products other than oil and gold stood at $24.10 billion in November 2019, registering a negative growth of (-) 11.96 per cent compared to such imports valued at $27.37billion in November 2018. Such imports stood at $213.19 billion in April-November 2019-20, registering a negative growth of (-) 7.35 per cent compared to such imports valued at $230.12 billion in April-November 2018-19.