India's trade deficit narrows as exports rise 26% in August

Merchandise imports rose 14.1% to $70.67 billion, while gold purchases plunged nearly 58% from a year earlier.

India’s merchandise exports in August saw a robust annualised growth of over 26% to $43.81 billion, outpacing about 14% growth in imports at $ 70.67 billion, thus narrowing the trade deficit on the back of policy measures such as trade diversification, bilateral deals and curbs on unproductive imports of commodities like gold.

Export growth accelerates further in August

Stating that India’s export growth momentum has been strong in the first four months of the current financial year, commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said: “Export growth momentum [has] accelerated further in August.” Cumulative trade data of both merchandise and services showed that exports in the first quarter (April-June) of 2026-27 “climbed by over 13% to $236.28 billion,” he said.

Overall growth of exports (goods and services combine) accelerated further to 16.58% in July this year to $ 82.42 billion, and by estimated 25.4% to $82.68 billion in August, he said on Tuesday while releasing latest trade data for the month. Services data for August are estimates, a conservative extrapolation of the previous month’s numbers, as RBI releases figures for the services sector with a lag.