Premium| Listen to this article |
India's overall exports stood at $57.03 billion in February 2022 - making a sharp recovery with a growth of 25.41% compared to the same month last year. However, overall imports also shoot up to $69.35 billion in the month under review, increasing a massive 35.64% from February last year. Furthermore, in the latest month, the trade deficit widened to $20.88 billion.
Exports including merchandise and services made a strong recovery in February 2022, not just on a year-on-year basis but also made robust growth from the pre-pandemic level. However, imports continue to rise as well.
Both exports and imports rose by 27.07% and 44.62% from February 2020, a month before the major lockdown hit India in March 202o due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In February 2022, the country's merchandise exports were at $34.57 billion against $27.63 billion in February last year - registering a growth of 25.10%. Meanwhile, merchandise imports increased by 36.07% to $55.45 billion against $40.75 billion in February 2021.
Thereby, the trade deficit (merchandise trade balance) has widened to $20.88 billion in February 2022 compared to $13.12 billion and $10.16 billion witnessed in February of 2021 and 2020 respectively.
On the contrary, India's services export in February 2022 stood at $22.46 billion rising by 25.90% yoy, while services import also jumped by 33.95% yoy to $13.91 billion. This led to a service trade balance of $8.56 billion in the month under review - rising by 14.69% yoy.
On a cumulative basis (April-February 2021-22), India's overall export stands at $601.77 billion logging a growth of 36.19% yoy. Moreover, overall imports were at $683.01 billion climbing by 51.51 yoy. The trade deficit widened to $175.75 billion against $88.99 billion of April - February 2020-21.
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint. Download our App Now!!