Expecting India's 2025-26 overall exports to touch USD 850 billion: Commerce Secretary
New Delhi, January 15
India is on track to cross USD 850 billion in total exports for the current financial year, driven by steady performance in both merchandise and services despite a challenging global economic climate.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal told reporters on Thursday that he is confident of India's trade trajectory. "We are going to cross USD 850 billion of export in the current financial year. There has been a positive movement in our export growth. We have maintained the positive territory."
The latest trade data for the April-December period underscores this optimistic outlook. For the first nine months of the fiscal year, India's overall exports (Merchandise + Services) reached USD 634.26 billion, a significant jump from the USD 607.93 billion recorded during the same period last year--marking a growth of 4.33%.
In December 2025 specifically, merchandise exports showed a resilient uptick with USD 38.51 billion in December 2025 as compared to USD 37.80 billion in December 2024, a growth of 1.86%.
"There has been a positive movement in our export growth. We have maintained the positive territory," Agrawal noted.
While exports are climbing, imports have also seen an upward trend, leading to a widening of the trade deficit, which stood at USD 96.58 billion for the April-December period, compared to USD 88.43 billion last year.
In exports, the services sector remained the strongest performer with a growth rate of 6.46 per cent and merchandise managed a steady 2.44 per cent growth.
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.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Great to see the numbers, but the widening trade deficit is a concern. We are importing more than we export in goods. Need to focus on 'Make in India' for electronics and other high-import items to balance this.
Crossing $850 billion would be a huge milestone. The resilience shown despite global headwinds is commendable. Our exporters deserve credit. Let's also ensure MSMEs get easier access to credit and markets to contribute more.
As someone working in the export sector, I can say the ground reality is still tough with logistics costs and compliance. The growth is good, but the government needs to simplify processes further for sustained growth.
Merchandise export growth at 2.44% is a bit low, no? We need to boost manufacturing. The PLI schemes seem to be helping, but results need to be faster. Jai Hind!
Positive news! But I hope this economic growth is inclusive and reaches the smaller towns and villages. Development should not just be about big numbers in Delhi, but better lives across Bharat.
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