Exports to top-10 nations grow faster than overall figures in Q1 FY25

India’s top-10 exports (by country) grew at a faster pace of 16.5 per cent during the April-June quarter, compared to the nation's overall merchandise exports growth of 5.8 per cent, commerce department data showed.

Except China, which saw 2.8 per cent contraction in exports, nine of the top-10 countries — United States (10.4 per cent), United Arab Emirates (17.6 per cent), Netherlands (41.3 per cent), United Kingdom (21.9 per cent), Singapore (26.55 per cent), Saudi Arabia (4.9 per cent), Bangladesh (10.5 per cent), Germany (3.4 per cent) and Malaysia (81.8 per cent) — witnessed positive growth.

These top-10 countries comprised 52 per cent of India’s total value of goods exported during the first quarter of this financial year.

The United States (US) continued to remain India’s largest export market, followed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Netherlands.

After witnessing a 3 per cent contraction in the financial year 2023-24, outbound shipments from India saw positive growth in the three consecutive months of the current financial year. However, the growth wasn’t even.

The year started with a 2 per cent export growth in April, followed by a robust 13 per cent rise in May.

The growth, thereafter, slowed to 2.5 per cent during June, as exporters grappled with muted demand and logistics-related woes.

Imports

Of India’s top-10 import partners — barring Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Switzerland — inbound shipments from the remaining countries witnessed growth during the first quarter of the financial year, the data showed.

The top-10 countries account for over 62 per cent of India’s merchandise imports.

Import growth from these top-10 countries jumped 12 per cent compared to the overall growth in inbound shipments of 7.6 per cent.This was driven by items such as electronic goods, petroleum products, non-ferrous metals and machinery.

Growth in inbound shipments were seen in the case of the US (5.4 per cent), UAE (35.7 per cent), Iraq (27.6 per cent), Indonesia (17.9 per cent), South Korea (7.2 per cent), Russia (19.7 per cent) and China (8.3 per cent).

Imports from Russia grew almost by a fifth to $18.36 billion during the quarter ended June, mainly due to India’s dependency on crude oil.

The country continued to remain India’s second-largest import partner after China.

Imports from Switzerland, which is mainly driven by gold, contracted 10.5 per cent to $4.56 billion.