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India’s Merchandise Trade Deficit Widens To $25.04 Billion In December As Imports Jump
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India’s goods exports in December 2025 stand at $38.51 billion, which is 1.86% higher than the $37.8 billion recorded in the same month last year.
India’s overall exports in December stood at $74.01 billion, marginally lower than $74.77 billion recorded in the same month last year.
India’s merchandise trade deficit widened slightly in December 2025, driven by a strong rise in imports even as exports remained broadly flat, according to the official data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
India’s goods exports in December 2025 stood at $38.51 billion, which is 1.86% higher than the $37.8 billion recorded in the same month last year. In contrast, imports jumped to $63.55 billion, compared with $58.43 billion in December 2024.
India’s overall exports in December stood at $74.01 billion, marginally lower than $74.77 billion recorded in the same month last year. In contrast, imports rose significantly to $80.94 billion, compared with $76.23 billion in December 2024. As a result, the country’s overall trade deficit expanded to $6.92 billion in December 2025, a sharp increase from $1.46 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.
“US exports have grown on-year in the first nine months of the (fiscal) year,” Rajesh Agrawal, commerce secretary, told reporters, adding total exports could be more than $850 billion in the current fiscal year ending March.
The country’s push to diversify exports toward China, Russia and the Middle East, backed by incentives and planned trade pacts, including with the EU, has cushioned shipments after US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on some Indian goods to 50% in late August.
Indian and US leaders are holding discussions for a bilateral trade deal, after the negotiations collapsed last year amid a breakdown in communication between the two governments.
In the services sector, exports moderated during the month. Services exports were estimated at USD 35.50 billion in December 2025, lower than USD 36.97 billion recorded in December 2024.
Services imports, however, declined slightly to USD 17.38 billion from USD 17.80 billion in the year-ago period.
India’s electronic goods sector grew by 16 plus percent; meat, dairy by 30 percent; pharmaceuticals by 5.65 per cent, and engineering goods too in positive trajectory.
Marine products grew 11 plus per cent.
The Commerce Secretary said, “We are also doing very well in China, where the growth has been very good, good growth in exports to the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Spain.”
In the US, a key market, India’s merchandise exports rose 9.8 per cent to USD 65.88 billion, from USD 60.03 billion during April-December 2025.
“We are still holding on to a positive trend. It was still doing around USD 7 billion despite high tariffs. We are focusing more on areas where tariffs are less, or in areas where tariffs are there, and industry has been showing resilience and holding on to the supply chains,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said.
India’s total exports had touched an all-time high of USD 824.9 billion in financial year 2024-25. This marked a yearly growth of 6.01 per cent over USD 778.1 billion exports in 2023-24, setting a new annual milestone.
The 2024-25 exports exceeded the initial anticipation of USD 800 billion.
In 2024-25, services exports continued to drive the growth momentum, reaching a historic high of USD 387.5 billion, up 13.6 per cent from USD 341.1 billion in the previous year. In 2024-25, merchandise exports stood at USD 437.42 billion in 2024-25, with a marginal increase. India’s total trade deficit (merchandise and services) for the fiscal year 2024-25 widened to USD 94.26 billion, from USD 78.1 billion in 2023-24.
Among various steps the government took was to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in varied sectors, including electronic goods, to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investments, enhance exports, integrate India into the global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports. These seemed to have reaped dividends for rising exports.
January 15, 2026, 14:38 IST
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