India's Goods Exports Show Resilience With Slower Decline Of 6.86 Per Cent In August From Double-Digit Contractions

India's goods exports continued their decline in August, marking the seventh consecutive month of contraction.

However, the rate of decline was somewhat less severe than in previous months, with exports decreasing by 6.86 per cent to a total of $34.5 billion in shipments.

In contrast, the import bill for August saw a decrease of 5.23 per cent compared to the previous year, amounting to $58.64 billion. Nevertheless, this figure remained 10.85 per cent higher than the import tally of $52.9 billion recorded in July.

Officials have identified falling petroleum prices as a significant factor contributing to nearly half of this year's decline in exports. Despite a 6 per cent increase in export volumes of petroleum products, prices were 27 per cent lower than the previous year.

Regarding the trade deficit, August witnessed a 2.8 per cent reduction compared to the previous year, resulting in a trade deficit of $24.16 billion.

However, it's worth noting that this trade deficit was almost 17 per cent higher than the figure of $20.67 billion reported for July.