India's exports up by over 26%, imports by 57% in November

It is not just the exports that registered a massive jump of over 26% last month, India's merchandise imports registered even higher increase in November, writes ETV Bharat's Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi:India's merchandise exports in November hit a high of $29.88 billion, an increase of 26.49% in comparison with the exports during the same month last year when it was $23.62 billion. Despite the Delta variant induced global supply chain disruptions, the export in November this year was above the pre-Covid level. In comparison with the exports in November 2019 when it was $25.77 billion, the export in November was nearly 16% higher.

According to the latest official data, India's export during the first eight months of the current financial ending in March 2022, was $262.46 billion, a massive increase of over 50%.

The export during April-November 2020 was $174.15 billion. The same trend of exports being above the pre-Covid level can be seen for first eight months (April-November 2021) as it was up by more than 24% in comparison with the exports during April-November 2019 when it was $211.17 billion.

Imports grew at a faster rate

It is not just the exports that registered a massive jump of over 26% last month, India's merchandise imports registered even higher increase in November.

In November, imports have been estimated at $53.15 billion, a sharp rise of over 57% in comparison with the imports during the same month last year when it was estimated to be $33.81 billion.

November imports are also on higher side in comparison with the imports during the same month in 2019 when it was 38.52 billion. An increase of 38% over the imports during November 2019.

Similarly, India’s merchandise imports in April-November, first eight months of the current fiscal, registered an even bigger increase of over 75% in comparison with the imports during the same period last year. It jumped from $219.19 billion in April-November 2020 to $384.44 billion in April-November this year.

It shows massive growth in consumption this year despite the ferocious second Covid wave that killed more than 2.5 lakh people. The deadly SarS-CoV-2 virus has killed 4,69,000 people in the country and more than 5.2 million people worldwide.

In comparison with the imports during April-November 2019 when the Covid-19 pandemic had not hit the world, the imports this year have registered an increase of over 18%.

Trade Deficit

India's trade deficit, the gap between the imports and exports, was $23.27 billion in November and for the first 8 months (April-November), it has been estimated at $121.98 billion.

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