India’s trade landscape in April 2025 showed significant year-on-year changes, with a notable rise in both exports and imports, leading to a widened merchandise trade deficit.

Merchandise exports in April stood at $38.49 billion, reflecting an increase from $35.30 billion in the same month last year. However, this rise in exports was overshadowed by a sharper increase in imports, which surged to $64.91 billion compared to $54.49 billion a year ago. This imbalance resulted in a merchandise trade deficit of $26.42 billion, up from $19.19 billion in April 2024.

In the services sector, exports rose to $35.31 billion from $30.18 billion YoY, while imports grew moderately to $17.54 billion compared to $16.76 billion last year. Consequently, the services trade surplus improved to $17.77 billion, up from $13.42 billion a year earlier.

Delving into the specifics of commodity-wise trade, non-oil imports were recorded at $44.20 billion, up from $37.99 billion YoY. Oil imports rose significantly to $20.72 billion from $16.49 billion, reflecting rising global energy prices or higher domestic demand.

Engineering goods exports reached $9.51 billion, up from $8.55 billion, while electronic goods exports climbed to $3.69 billion from $2.65 billion. Petroleum product exports also increased to $7.37 billion from $7.05 billion YoY.

On the import side, electronic goods imports saw a steep rise to $9.25 billion from $7.05 billion. Gold imports rose marginally to $3.10 billion from $2.95 billion.

The data suggests a robust expansion in both exports and imports, indicating healthy trade activity. However, the widening trade deficit signals increased pressure on the current account and may influence policy decisions going forward. While services continue to provide a strong surplus cushion, the rising merchandise deficit could become a concern if the trend persists.