India’s overall exports in December 2025 stood at $74.01 billion, marginally lower than $74.77 billion in December 2024, while imports rose sharply to $80.94 billion from $76.23 billion a year ago, official data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry showed on Thursday. As a result, the country’s overall trade deficit widened to $6.92 billion in December 2025, compared with $1.46 billion in the same month last year.
Trade deficit widens on higher imports
The widening of the trade gap was mainly driven by higher imports, even as exports remained broadly stable on a year-on-year basis. The data includes combined trade in merchandise and services. Merchandise exports showed a modest improvement during the month. Merchandise exports increased to $38.51 billion in December 2025 from $37.80 billion in December 2024, reflecting steady outbound shipments despite global economic uncertainties. However, merchandise imports grew at a faster pace, rising to $63.55 billion from $58.43 billion a year earlier. In the services sector, exports moderated during December. Services exports were estimated at $35.50 billion in December 2025, lower than the $36.97 billion recorded in December 2024. Services imports declined marginally to $17.38 billion from $17.80 billion in the year-ago period.
Sector-wise export performance
Sector-wise data showed positive growth in several export categories. Electronic goods exports rose by over 16 per cent, while exports of meat and dairy products grew by around 30 per cent. Pharmaceutical exports increased by 5.65 per cent, engineering goods remained on a positive growth trajectory, and marine products recorded growth of over 11 per cent during the period.
Key markets and official comments
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said India continued to see healthy export growth in several markets. “We are also doing very well in China, where the growth has been very good, with good growth in exports to the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Spain,” he said. Referring to the US, a key export destination, Agrawal said India’s merchandise exports to the US rose 9.8 per cent to $65.88 billion during April-December 2025, compared with $60.03 billion in the same period of the previous year. “We are still holding on to a positive trend. It was still doing around $7 billion despite high tariffs. We are focusing more on areas where tariffs are less, or where industry has shown resilience and is holding on to supply chains,” he said.
Annual exports and policy support
India’s total exports touched an all-time high of $824.9 billion in the financial year 2024-25, registering a growth of 6.01 per cent over $778.1 billion in 2023-24. The performance exceeded the initial expectation of $800 billion. During 2024-25, services exports continued to drive overall growth, rising to a record $387.5 billion, up 13.6 per cent from $341.1 billion in the previous year. Merchandise exports stood at $437.42 billion, showing a marginal increase. India’s total trade deficit, including merchandise and services, widened to $94.26 billion in 2024-25 from $78.1 billion in 2023-24. Officials said government initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme across sectors, including electronic goods, have helped improve competitiveness, attract investments and support export growth.
Doonited Affiliated: Syndicate News Hunt
This report has been published as part of an auto-generated syndicated wire feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been modified or edited by Doonited
