India’s cumulative exports for the first quarter of FY2025-26 have reached $210.31 billion, registering a 5.94% increase over the $198.52 billion recorded in the same period last year. This growth has been largely driven by an upswing in service exports and robust performance in key merchandise categories including electronics, pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, and processed foods.
Merchandise exports stood at $112.17 billion, marking a modest 1.92% rise over the previous year. Electronic goods surged by 46.93% to $4.15 billion in June alone, while drugs and pharmaceuticals rose nearly 6% to $2.62 billion. Engineering goods, meat and dairy products, and marine exports all contributed positive growth.
Non-petroleum exports for the quarter totalled $94.77 billion, up 5.97% year-on-year. Exports excluding petroleum and gems & jewellery reached $88.10 billion, compared to $82.16 billion in Q1 of the previous year, reflecting India’s increasing diversification away from traditional commodity exports.
Services exports saw a standout performance, climbing 10.93% year-on-year to reach $98.13 billion, contributing to a services trade surplus of $46.95 billion, up from $39.68 billion last year. The surge in service exports helped offset a merchandise trade deficit of $67.26 billion.
June 2025 data confirms total exports for the month at $67.98 billion, growing 6.50% over June 2024, while imports remained nearly flat at $71.50 billion, easing the monthly trade deficit to $3.51 billion—down sharply from $7.30 billion a year earlier.
Import trends reflected significant declines in several commodities. Pulses dropped nearly 75%, newsprint by over 61%, and gold by 25.73%. Coal, transport equipment, precious stones and metals, iron and steel, and petroleum products all recorded negative growth. Imports of materials used in manufacturing, such as dyeing agents, resins, and textile yarns, also declined.
Positive import growth came primarily from countries like Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and China, with Ireland registering a 265.82% increase in June alone. Over the full quarter, China, UAE, Ireland, USA and Hong Kong emerged as top growth contributors to India’s import basket.
On the export side, India recorded strong gains from the USA, China, Kenya, France and Brazil in June. For the April–June quarter, top export destinations included USA (22.18%), China (17.87%), Kenya (69.83%), Germany (10.79%) and Australia (14.01%), indicating increasing diversification and strength in India’s trade corridors.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry affirmed that these trends demonstrate India’s sustained recovery and competitiveness in both traditional and emerging sectors, supported by improved trade data reporting and ongoing export facilitation measures.
