The gap between India's imports and exports decreased to $17.49 billion in January, even though the current Red Sea crisis is making commerce more difficult by posing a threat to commercial vessels passing through the Suez Canal from Houthi rebels supported by Yemen.
India's exports in January 2024 totaled $36.92 billion, up from $35.80 billion in January 2023 but down from $38.45 billion in December 2023, according to figures issued by the commerce ministry on February 15.
"We have managed to attain a positive growth rate for merchandise exports in spite of the Red Sea crisis, ongoing economic downturn in developed countries, and declining commodity prices," stated Commerce Secretary Sunil Kumar Barthwal during a briefing.
While down from $58.25 billion in December 2023, India's merchandise imports last month increased 3.0% year over year to $54.41 billion.
India's goods exports during the entire period of April 2023–January 2024 were $353.92 billion, a decrease of 4.9 percent from the first ten months of 2022–2023 year. At $561.12 billion, imports decreased by an even more significant 6.7 percent on an annual basis. As a result, from April 2023 to January 2024, the trade deficit decreased by about 10% to $207.2 billion.
On February 15, Barthwal told reporters that although the outlook for the world economy is not good due to the conflicts, the government will remain collaborating with exporters to make sure that exports abroad continue to rise.
