NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise exports fell for the 13th month in a row in December, the longest streak of declines on record, but at a slower pace than the previous four months, according to preliminary foreign trade figures published by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The newest data shows the value of outbound shipments during the month was $22.3 billion, down 14.75 percent from $26.1 billion during December 2014. Exports were down by 20.7 percent in August, 24.3 percent in September, 17.5 percent in October and 24.4 percent in November over the corresponding months in the previous fiscal year.
“The trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies — the growth in exports has fallen for the U.S., European Union, and China by 10.3, 10.83, 6.94 percent, respectively, in October 2015 over the corresponding month in the previous year as per WTO statistics,” the ministry said in a release.
“Export figures, which reflected a continuous decline for more than a year now, seem to be gaining the lost ground,” said S.C. Ralhan, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations, in a press statement.
The decline during December was primarily driven by petroleum products, engineering goods, and gems and jewellery, which tumbled 47.7 percent, 15.7 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively, in value terms.
The monthly data also shows exports of pharmaceutical products, readymade garments and chemicals grew by 8.2 percent, 5 percent and 1 percent year-over-year. Imports were down 3.9 percent from December 2014 to $33.9 billion. As a result, India’s trade deficit with the rest of the world reached $11.7 billion, up from $9.2 billion, according to the data.
Total exports from April to December, the first three fiscal quarters, plunged 18 percent year-over-year to $196.6 billion. Imports for the same period fell 16 percent year-over-year to $296 billion, resulting in a cumulative trade gap of $99.2 billion, down from $111.7 billion during April to December 2014.
“Global demand also does not seem to be picking up. With only countries like the U.S. showing little signs of improvement, this does not augur well for the country’s export sector in the long run,” the Federation of Indian Export Organisations said.
The latest figures indicate New Delhi will not only miss its annual export target of $325 billion, but could even fall far short of the $310 billion figure recorded last fiscal year, which ended in March.
