Country's trade deficit increased to $29.65 billion in August, exports decreased by 9.3%

As per the data released by the Department of Commerce, due to the decline in global demand and geopolitical challenges, Indian goods export declined by 9.3 percent to $ 34.7 billion in August. During the same period, the shipments coming to the country, i.e., imports, increased by 3.3 percent this month and reached to $ 64.4 billion. In this way, the country's trade deficit reached $ 29.65 billion in August.

Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal explained that steep deceleration in China, declining petroleum prices, recession in Europe, and issues relating to transport and logistics hurt the country's commodity exports. Exports from the whole country grew 5.8% year-on-year during the first three months of the financial year. It reached US$ 109.9 billion beginning April to June.

The World Trade Organization WTO's Global Trade Outlook and Statistics said in April that world merchandise trade volumes are expected to gradually improve in 2024 and 2025 after a contraction in 2023, weighed by the impact of high energy prices and inflation in advanced economies, especially Europe.

It said, "We expect global trade to grow by 2.6 percent in 2024 and 3.3 percent in 2025 after a decline of 1.2 percent in 2023." The multilateral trade body had warned that regional conflicts and geopolitical tensions could limit trade growth by pushing up food and energy prices.