New Delhi: Director General Foreign Trade (DGFT) Santosh Sarangi hopes that in spite of strong global headwinds, with two months remaining in the current financial year, India’s overall exports is projected to grow at 17.33 percent during April-January 2022-23 over same period last year (April-January 2021-22).
DGFT Shri Sarangi is continuously monitoring exports. According to sources, services exports remain strong and projected to grow at 31.86 percent during April-January 2022-23 over same period last year (April-January 2021-22).
India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in January 2023 are estimated to be USD 65.15 Billion, exhibiting a positive growth of 14.58 per cent over the same period last year.
As India’s domestic demand has remained steady amidst the global slump, overall imports in April-January 2022-23 is estimated to exhibit a growth of 22.92 per cent over the same period last year.
While Merchandise exports in January 2023 were USD 32.91 Billion, as compared to USD 35.23 Billion in January 2022, Merchandise imports in January 2023 were USD 50.66 Billion, as compared to USD 52.57 Billion in January 2022.
Global growth is projected to fall from an estimated 3.4 percent in 2022 to 2.9 percent in 2023, while India continues to shine as a bright spot with a growth of 6.8% in 2022 and 6.1% in 2023 with resilient domestic demand despite external headwinds. (IMF’s Jan 2023).
This seems to be having a two-way effect on India’s trade. On one hand, it is reducing exports as there is decline in global growth resulting in sluggish export demand while on the other hand increasing imports as domestic demand remains resilient due to relatively high growth.
Under merchandise exports, 14 of the 30 key sectors exhibited positive growth in January 2023 as compared to same period last year (January 2022). These include Electronic Goods (55.54%), Oil Meals (48.89%), Oil Seeds (23.81%), Iron Ore (21%), Rice (18.8%), Fruits & Vegetables (14.57%), Cashew (10.34%), Tobacco (9.41%), Ceramic Products & Glassware (8.25%), Petroleum Products (8.01%), Marine Products (6.61%), Other Cereals (3.92%), Spices (3.79%) and Tea (3.76%).
Merchandise exports, 17 of the 30 key sectors exhibited positive growth during April-January 2022-23 as compared to the same period last financial year (April-January 2021-22). These include Petroleum products (54.78%), Electronic goods (51.96%), Tobacco (38.71%), Oil Meals (29.63%), Cereal Preparations & Miscellaneous Processed Items (17.36%), Rice (16.38%), Leather & Leather Products (13.92%), Oil Seeds (13.77%), Other Cereals (12.32%), Coffee (12.15%), Tea (11.62%), Fruits & Vegetables (10.28%), Ceramic Products & Glassware (7.23%), Organic & Inorganic Chemicals (5.56%), RMG of all Textiles (5.22%), Marine Products (3.06%) and Drugs & Pharmaceuticals (2.97%).
All agricultural commodities exports barring coffee have shown positive growth in January 2023.
Exports of Electronic goods increased by more than 50 percent during January 2023 at USD 2.11 Billion as compared to USD 1.36 Billion in January 2022.
During April – January 2022-23 electronic goods exports were recorded at USD 18.78 Billion as compared to USD 12.36 Billion during the same period last year registering a growth of over 50 percent.
Effect of duty withdrawal on Iron Ore is visible on India’s exports of the item which have exhibited positive growth of 21 percent during January 2023.
Textiles, Plastic & Linoleum exports continued to decline in January 2023 because of subdued demand due to recessionary effects in major economies.
Merchandise exports growth for the period April-January 2022-23 remain impressive at 8.51% as against the same period last financial year (April-January 2021-22).
In terms of export destinations, Netherlands emerged as 3rd largest export destination where exports have increased to USD 15.65 Billion with a share of 4.24% in April- January 2022-23 which is a jump in rank from 11th in 2017-18 and 5th in 2021-22. The exports to Saudi Arabia have increased to USD 8.86 Billion in April-January 2022-23 with a share of 2.40% which improved its rank from 12th in 2021-22 to 8th in April- January 2022-23. Brazil emerged at 9th spot in the current fiscal (April-January 2022-23) with a share of 2.30%, which is a jump in rank to 9th from 21st in 2021-22. Similarly, Indonesia has also emerged as top 11th exports destination with share of 2.18% in 2022-23 (April-January) from 14th in 2021-22. South Africa (15th with 1.96% share) and Israel (18th with 1.79% share) have also made their place in India’s top 20 exports destinations in 2022-23 (April – January).
Travel sector has shown significant recovery during April-September 2022 with growth of 180%. While IT/ITES and business services have maintained their robust growth, transportation and financial Services exports have grown at more than 35% during April-September 2022.