India‘s product exports grew 67.4% year-on-year in May, to US $ 32.21 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry reported.

That amount also represented an advance of 7.9% compared to the same month of 2019.

India’s merchandise trade as a percentage of GDP accounts for about 30%.

The growth of both product exports and imports slowed considerably in 2015/2016, due to lower oil prices and weak global demand.

MERCHANDISE TRADE: Preliminary Data, May 2021

Since then and even before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the WTO, exports have grown by around 8% per year on average and imports have increased by almost 11%.

Product exports

In May 2021, the value of India’s non-oil exports was $ 26.94 billion, an advance of 54.1% year-on-year.

If compared to the same type of exports in May 2019, these rose 8.18% annually.

In India, the objectives of the Agricultural Products Export Policy (AEP) are: to increase exports of agricultural products to a value of around 60,000 million by 2022 and 100,000 million in subsequent years; diversify exports and destinations, and promote exports of high-value and value-added products.

By type of merchandise

The main groups of export commodities that showed positive growth in May 2021 compared to May 2019 are: Other cereals (376.04%), Iron ore (154.82%), Cereal preparations and various processed products (25.48% ), Cotton yarns / fabrics / garments, handloom products, etc. (24.85%), jute mfg, including floor coverings (20.99%), rice (20.37%) and ceramic products and glassware (20.32%).

Conversely, India’s merchandise imports in May 2021 were $ 38.53 billion, an increase of 68.5% year-on-year.

However, compared to May 2019, the amount implied a decrease of 1,747 percent.