Exports plunge most in 3 years as demand cools

India’s goods exports fell the steepest in three years in April as weakening global demand and declining commodity prices continued to weigh on outbound shipments. Exports declined by nearly 13% in April to $34.66 billion from $39.70 billion in the year-ago period, commerce ministry data showed.

- Ravi Dutta Mishra

The last steepest decline was in May 2020, when goods exports plunged 35.52%.

Merchandise imports also fell by 14% to $49.90 billion during the month, from $58.06 billion a year earlier. Consequently, the trade deficit narrowed to $15.24 billion from $18.36 billion in April last year.

“Imports have declined; part of it is due to the cooling down of commodity prices, and the second part is due to reduced demand for products considered discretionary spending. So, if you look at the major contributors to our decline in imports, they are gems and jewellery and petroleum. Both also have an export orientation. Petroleum products and gems and jewellery are high. So, a reduction in demand for products like gems and jewellery is likely to result in a decline of imports as well as exports," director general of foreign trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi said.