Electronic goods, petroleum products, engineering goods, chemicals and agricultural goods supported export growth.
Chennai: India's merchandise exports grew 23 per cent in September. At $30.21 billion merchandise trade deficit was lower than that in the same month last year but higher than the deficit in August 2026.
India's merchandise exports rose 23.04% year-on-year to $44.40 billion in September 2026, up from $36.08 billion in the same month last year, while imports increased to $74.61 billion from $69.08 billion. The merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $30.21 billion from $33 billion in September last year.
However, merchandise trade deficit widened on a sequential basis against $26.86 billion in August. Merchandise exports rose to $44.40 billion in September from $43.81 billion in the previous month, while imports increased to $74.61 billion from $70.67 billion.
Electronic goods, petroleum products, engineering goods, chemicals and agricultural goods supported export growth. Higher commodity prices too have been instrumental in the rise in exports in the past few months.
“India’s merchandise exports expanded by over 20% for the second consecutive month in September 2026, even as growth in such imports cooled to a 6-month low of 8.0%, amid a sharp contraction in gold imports. This contained the merchandise trade deficit at $30.2 billion in the month, lower than the $33 billion seen in September 2025, albeit largely in line with the levels seen during 5M FY2027,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist, ICRA.
Gold imports fell to $1.8 billion from $2.3 billion in August and 27.32% to $19.27 billion for April-September period.
Merchandise exports during April-September 2026-27 grew 18.5% to $259.89 billion against $219.30 billion in the same period last year.
