India’s September exports rise 23% as merchandise trade deficit widens
Merchandise exports reached $44.40 billion, but a larger rise in imports pushed the monthly goods deficit to $30.21 billion. A separate measure including services narrowed from a year earlier.
India’s merchandise exports rose 23.04% from a year earlier to $44.40 billion in September 2026, but its goods trade deficit widened from August to $30.21 billion, according to trade figures reported on Thursday, 15 October. Imports grew faster than exports from the previous month, leaving a larger gap despite the export increase.
The Economic Times reported that merchandise exports increased from $43.81 billion in August to $44.40 billion in September. Merchandise imports climbed from $70.67 billion to $74.61 billion over the same period, lifting the goods deficit from $26.86 billion to $30.21 billion. The September figure was close to the $30.4 billion expected by economists in a Reuters poll, the report said.
Why the trade deficit figures differ
A broader measure moved in the other direction. The Times of India reported estimated exports of goods and services of $80.75 billion in September, up from $72.76 billion a year earlier. Combined imports rose to $94.05 billion from $86.93 billion, while the resulting deficit narrowed to $13.30 billion from $14.17 billion. That is a year-on-year comparison covering services as well as merchandise; the widening $30.21 billion goods deficit is a month-on-month comparison.
The Times of India said higher shipments of electronics, petroleum products, engineering goods, chemicals and agricultural products supported the increase in merchandise exports. Its report attributed comments on the export figures by Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal to ANI’s account of his press briefing.
US shipments and the wider China trade gap
India’s merchandise exports to the United States rose 11.1% from a year earlier to $50.81 billion in April–September 2026, according to The Times of India. Imports from the US increased 26% to $32.33 billion during that six-month period, narrowing India’s merchandise surplus with the US to $18.48 billion from $20.07 billion a year earlier. Those figures cover six months, rather than September alone.
Trade with China provides a separate view of the pressures behind India’s external trade gap. The Financial Express, citing PTI’s account of data from China’s General Administration of Customs, reported a $105.93 billion India–China deficit for January–September 2026, up 20.7% from a year earlier. Bilateral trade increased 25.4% to $144.45 billion over those nine months.
In that period, China’s exports to India rose 23.3% to $125.19 billion, while India’s exports to China grew 40.7% to $19.26 billion, the PTI figures carried by The Financial Express showed. India’s sales to China grew faster in percentage terms, but remained far smaller in value. The nine-month bilateral deficit is a different measure from India’s September merchandise deficit with all trading partners.
The Financial Express also reported, citing PTI and India’s Commerce Ministry, that India’s deficit with China reached $112.6 billion in the 2025–26 fiscal year, compared with $99.2 billion in 2024–25. Exports to China rose 36.66% to $19.47 billion in 2025–26, while imports increased 16% to $131.63 billion. The fiscal-year figures give a longer view of the imbalance, though they cover a different period from the January–September data.
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Sources and context
- India’s September exports rise 23% as merchandise trade deficit narrows; shipments to US rise 11%The Times of India; excerpt attributes the commerce secretary quotation to ANI
- India’s trade deficit widens to $30.21 billion in September despite 23% jump in exportsThe Economic Times
- India’s exports to China jump 40%, yet trade deficit widens to $105.93 bn in January-SeptThe Financial Express; credits PTI for the January–September China figures
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.