New Delhi, Feb 16 (.) India’s trade performance in January reflected a mixed but resilient picture, with overall exports registering a healthy rise even as imports grew at a faster pace, widening the trade deficit during the month.
According to the data released by the Commerce Department here, India’s overall trade (merchandise and services combined) exports stood at USD 80.45 billion in January 2026, up from USD 71.09 billion in January 2025.
Imports rose to USD 90.83 billion compared to USD 76.48 billion a year ago. As a result, the overall trade deficit widened to USD 10.38 billion from USD 5.39 billion in the corresponding month last year.
On the merchandise front, exports remained largely stable at USD 36.56 billion in January 2026 as against USD 36.34 billion in January 2025.
However, merchandise imports increased to USD 51.24 billion from USD 59.77 billion compared to the corresponding period last year.
Services trade continued to provide a cushion. Services exports rose to USD 43.90 billion in January 2026 compared with USD 34.75 billion a year ago.
Services imports also increased to USD 19.60 billion from USD 16.71 billion, but the strong growth in services exports helped offset part of the merchandise trade gap.
For the April–January period of 2025-26, overall exports (merchandise and services) reached USD 720.76 billion, up from USD 679.02 billion in April–January 2024-25, reflecting a growth of 6.15 per cent.
Imports during the same period rose to USD 823.41 billion from USD 772.85 billion, registering a growth of 6.54 per cent.
Consequently, the cumulative trade deficit widened to USD 102.65 billion compared to USD 93.83 billion in the year-ago period.
Merchandise exports during April–January 2025-26 stood at USD 366.63 billion, up from USD 358.75 billion last year, marking a growth of 2.20 per cent.
Merchandise imports rose more sharply to USD 649.86 billion from USD 606.13 billion, reflecting a 7.21 per cent increase.
Services exports for April–January 2025-26 climbed to USD 354.13 billion from USD 320.28 billion, recording a robust 10.57 per cent growth. Services imports increased moderately to USD 173.55 billion from USD 166.72 billion, up 4.10 per cent.
Non-petroleum merchandise exports during April–January 2025-26 rose to USD 320.94 billion from USD 305.98 billion in the same period of the previous year, registering a growth of 4.89 per cent. Non-petroleum merchandise imports increased to USD 501.04 billion from USD 451.25 billion, up 11.03 per cent.
Among key export destinations during April–January 2025-26, the United States remained India’s largest market, followed by the UAE and China.
Exports to China showed a sharp rise of 38.37 per cent, increasing from USD 11.48 billion in April–January 2024-25 to USD 15.88 billion in the current fiscal period.
Other major destinations included the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Singapore, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Italy.
On the import side, China continued to be the top source, followed by the UAE, Russia and the US. Other significant import partners included Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
Sector-wise, engineering goods remained the leading export category during April–January 2025-26 at USD 161.13 billion.
Petroleum products, electronic goods, drugs and pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, organic and inorganic chemicals, textiles, rice and marine products were among the other major contributors.
On the import side, petroleum (crude and products) and electronic goods dominated the import basket, followed by gold, machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment, non-ferrous metals, chemicals, coal and iron and steel.
. SAS