India’s Trade Deficit: Dissected by Countries
BY
Dr H A C Prasad
India’s trade deficit fell from 264.9 billion US dollars in 2022-23 to 241.1 billion US dollars in 2023-24. However, a break-up of the deficit by countries shows the high and rising trade deficit of India with China, with its share in total deficit increasing from 31.4 percent to 35.3 percent during the above mentioned period. (Table 1 and Figure 1).
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Table 1: India's Trade Deficit/Surplus with Major Trading Partners |
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|
Country |
Trade Deficit/Surplus |
Share in Deficit % |
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|
Apr-Mar 2023 |
Apr-Mar 2024 |
Apr-Mar 2023 |
Apr-Mar 2024 |
|
|
U S A |
27,684.53 |
35,327.63 |
||
|
NETHERLAND |
15,659.37 |
17,402.56 |
||
|
BANGLADESH PR |
10194.79 |
9,221.20 |
||
|
U K |
2497.04 |
4,567.59 |
||
|
ITALY |
3099.92 |
2,970.23 |
||
|
BELGIUM |
-313.47 |
601.20 |
0.12 |
|
|
SOUTH AFRICA |
-1923.39 |
-1,830.69 |
0.73 |
0.76 |
|
MALAYSIA |
-5578.73 |
-5,491.84 |
2.11 |
2.28 |
|
SINGAPORE |
-11602.39 |
-6,785.05 |
4.38 |
2.81 |
|
GERMANY |
-6464.84 |
-6,802.72 |
2.44 |
2.82 |
|
AUSTRALIA |
-12059.99 |
-8,218.45 |
4.55 |
3.41 |
|
HONG KONG |
-8382.29 |
-12,204.34 |
3.16 |
5.06 |
|
U ARAB EMTS |
-21,623.60 |
-12,400.49 |
8.16 |
5.14 |
|
JAPAN |
-11030.32 |
-12,536.31 |
4.16 |
5.20 |
|
KOREA RP |
-14572.37 |
-14,718.24 |
5.50 |
6.10 |
|
INDONESIA |
-18794.16 |
-17,421.22 |
7.09 |
7.22 |
|
SWITZERLAND |
-14445.95 |
-19,721.07 |
5.45 |
8.18 |
|
SAUDI ARAB |
-31307.6 |
-19,857.78 |
11.82 |
8.23 |
|
IRAQ |
-31688.78 |
-26,606.63 |
11.96 |
11.03 |
|
RUSSIA |
-43065.5 |
-56,897.68 |
16.26 |
23.60 |
|
CHINA P RP |
-83173.83 |
-85,069.24 |
31.40 |
35.28 |
|
Total |
-264898.9 |
-2,41,142.74 |
100.00 |
100.00 |
Taking the top 15 countries of India’s exports/imports and their trade surplus/deficit with India in 2023-24, there are 21 trading partners of India as given in Table 1. There are 6/5 countries with which India has trade surplus in 2023-24/2022-23, the US, the Netherlands and Bangladesh being the top 3 countries. (Figure 2A) India has trade deficit with the remaining countries, with the highest trade deficit with China, which has increased in 2023-24. (Figure 2B)
