India’s overall exports in October 2022 were estimated at US$ 58.36 billion, growing by 4% YoY. While merchandise exports dropped by 16% during the month, positive growth was witnessed for some commodities including oil seeds, oil meals, electronic goods, tobacco, tea and rice.
Overall Merchandise and Services exports by India in October 2022 were estimated at US$ 58.36 billion growing by 4.03% YoY. Overall imports in October 2022 were estimated to be at US$ 73.00 billion, growing by 11.82% YoY, according to data released by the Department of Commerce.
Merchandise Exports
Merchandise exports during the month stood at US$ 29.78 Billion, as compared to US$ 35.73 billion in October 2021. Commodities that showed a positive growth included Oil seeds, Oil Meals, Electronic goods, Tobacco, Tea and Rice.
Table 1: Commodities showing positive growth
| Sl. No. | Commodities | OCT
2021 |
OCT
2022 |
% Change
OCT 2022 |
| 1 | Oil seeds | 84.26 | 149.98 | 78 |
| 2 | Oil Meals | 55.8 | 91.87 | 64.64 |
| 3 | Electronic Goods | 1347 | 1853.77 | 37.62 |
| 4 | Tobacco | 85.28 | 102.68 | 20.4 |
| 5 | Tea | 65.37 | 72.88 | 11.49 |
| 6 | Rice | 692.38 | 703.96 | 1.67 |
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Values in Million US$
A negative growth was seen for a number of commodities like iron ore, cotton, jute, cashews, spices, coffee, ceramic products & glassware, Marine Products, fruits & vegetables, plastic & linoleum, petroleum products and some other products. The table below shows those commodities that underwent a negative growth in October 2022.
Table 2: Commodities showing negative growth
| Sl. No. | Commodities | OCT
2021 |
OCT
2022 |
% Change OCT 2022 |
| 1. | Iron Ore | 78.73 | 7.83 | -90.05 |
| 2. | Handicrafts excl. hand made carpet | 198.99 | 98.05 | -50.73 |
| 3. | Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc. | 1335.97 | 719.03 | -46.18 |
| 4. | Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering | 43.55 | 23.57 | -45.88 |
| 5. | Cashew | 43.3 | 25.23 | -41.73 |
| 6. | Carpet | 173.19 | 107.13 | -38.14 |
| 7. | Other cereals | 62.23 | 44.53 | -28.44 |
| 8. | Plastic & Linoleum | 782.88 | 580.53 | -25.85 |
| 9. | Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc. | 468.69 | 350.56 | -25.2 |
| 10. | Meat, dairy & poultry products | 383.67 | 299.2 | -22.02 |
| 11. | Gems & Jewellery | 4221.22 | 3311.27 | -21.56 |
| 12. | Engineering Goods | 9401.21 | 7402.97 | -21.26 |
| 13. | RMG of all Textiles | 1254.13 | 988.72 | -21.16 |
| 14. | Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals | 441.8 | 351.9 | -20.35 |
| 15. | Spices | 333.22 | 268.11 | -19.54 |
| 16. | Organic & Inorganic Chemicals | 2569.37 | 2146.88 | -16.44 |
| 17. | Petroleum Products | 5355.77 | 4751.69 | -11.28 |
| 18. | Marine Products | 807.77 | 720.32 | -10.83 |
| 19. | Ceramic products & glassware | 284.47 | 256.84 | -9.71 |
| 20. | Drugs & Pharmaceuticals | 2064.45 | 1873.73 | -9.24 |
| 21. | Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items | 186.91 | 174.38 | -6.7 |
| 22. | Coffee | 85.71 | 80.11 | -6.53 |
| 23. | Leather & leather products | 370.68 | 349.03 | -5.84 |
| 24. | Fruits & Vegetables | 225.88 | 222.5 | -1.5 |
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Values in million US$
Merchandise Imports
Merchandise imports in October 2022 were at US$ 56.69 Billion, as compared to US$ 53.64 Billion in October 2021. Commodities like Cotton Raw & Waste, Fertilisers, Petroleum Crude & products, Textile yarn Fabric & made-up articles showed positive growth. Pulses, fruits and vegetables, vegetable oils, electronic goods, Medicinal & Pharmaceutical products were amongst the other commodities that showed a negative growth during the month. The tables below show the import growth in various commodities in October 2022.
Table 3: Commodities showing positive growth
| Sl. No. | Commodities | OCT
2021 |
OCT
2022 |
% Change
OCT 2022 |
| 1 | Cotton Raw & Waste | 38.11 | 172.13 | 351.67 |
| 2 | Fertilisers, Crude & manufactured | 805.39 | 2105.03 | 161.37 |
| 3 | Newsprint | 32.21 | 68.75 | 113.44 |
| 4 | Pulp and Waste paper | 139.62 | 224.98 | 61.14 |
| 5 | Iron & Steel | 1444.65 | 1991.41 | 37.85 |
| 6 | Petroleum, Crude & products | 12278.88 | 15852.43 | 29.1 |
| 7 | Leather & leather products | 66.12 | 85.35 | 29.08 |
| 8 | Transport equipment | 1961.71 | 2495.03 | 27.19 |
| 9 | Wood & Wood products | 471.24 | 575.89 | 22.21 |
| 10 | Project goods | 44.33 | 48.38 | 9.14 |
| 11 | Professional instrument, Optical goods, etc. | 467.89 | 506.31 | 8.21 |
| 12 | Non-ferrous metals | 1427.9 | 1539.7 | 7.83 |
| 13 | Textile yarn Fabric, made-up articles | 199.48 | 207.71 | 4.13 |
| 14 | Machinery, electrical & non-electrica
l |
3536.06 | 3632.12 | 2.72 |
| 15 | Artificial resins, plastic materials, etc. | 1725.4 | 1762.4 | 2.14 |
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry; Values in Million US$
Table 4: Commodity showing negative growth
| Sl. No. | Commodities | OCT
2021 |
OCT
2022 |
% Change
OCT 2022 |
| 1 | Sulphur & Unroasted Iron Pyrites | 31.93 | 11.23 | -64.83 |
| 2 | Pulses | 378.41 | 204.81 | -45.88 |
| 3 | Silver | 897.35 | 585.09 | -34.8 |
| 4 | Gold | 5101.7 | 3700.15 | -27.47 |
| 5 | Dyeing/tanning/colouring materials | 413.11 | 304.77 | -26.23 |
| 6 | Pearls, precious & Semi-precious stones | 2482.7 | 2159.93 | -13 |
| 7 | Fruits & vegetables | 239.53 | 211.4 | -11.74 |
| 8 | Organic & Inorganic Chemicals | 2,634.16 | 2359.02 | -10.45 |
| 9 | Electronic goods | 6,828.85 | 6200.22 | -9.21 |
| 10 | Chemical material & products | 934.43 | 855.67 | -8.43 |
| 11 | Metaliferrous ores & other minerals | 794.86 | 728.11 | -8.4 |
| 12 | Machine tools | 402.27 | 383.79 | -4.59 |
| 13 | Coal, Coke & Briquettes, etc. | 3,308.85 | 3178.07 | -3.95 |
| 14 | Vegetable Oil | 1,636.9 | 1580.63 | -3.44 |
| 15 | Medicinal & Pharmaceutical products | 657.64 | 642.78 | -2.26 |
Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry
According to Mr. Prahalathan Iyer, Chief General Manager, Research & Analysis, India Exim Bank, “the export slowdown has been caused both by supply and demand side factors. Continued bottlenecks in logistics and supply chain, shortages of semiconductors and some metal commodities, and elevated energy prices keep pressure on the production cycle, on the supply side. This could be seen in the negative export trends witnessed by engineering goods, plastics, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, among others. The inflationary pressures due to energy prices has reduced the purchasing power of households, on the demand side. Exports of most of the consumer goods categories, like Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, Leather, Handicrafts, Carpets, are also in negative in the month of October”.
The future trend will be highly dependent on how the economies of USA and Europe would recover. Till September, both economies have been strong contributors to India’s export gain. During April-September, India’s exports to the US increased by 15.12% YoY to reach US$ 41.51 billion, while exports to the EU increased by 25.16% to reach US$ 36.4 billion.
