(HT)
India’s exports of goods and services in financial year 2024-25 rose 6% to a record $825 billion, boosted by a 13.6% rise in exports of services to an all-time high value of $387.5 billion, despite uncertainties around global trade, according to revised government data.
The government on Thursday revised India’s exports in FY25 to $824.92 billion from the initial $820.93 billion estimated on April 15 after receiving Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data for services export in the month of March. The exports data for FY25 released in mid-April was based on provisional numbers of services export for March, which was an extrapolation of the previous month’s numbers as RBI releases figures for services sector with a lag.
Announcing provisional trade data for the month of March and the full financial year of 2024-25, commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal on April 15 said that as services data for the month of March was a “conservative” estimate, India’s actual exports in FY25 would exceed $821 billion.
Export data on that day recorded merchandise exports in 2024-25 at $437.42 billion and services at $383.51 billion (now revised to $387.5 billion). For March 2025, services export registered a growth of 18.6% at $35.6 billion as compared to $30.0 billion in March 2024, according to data revised on Thursday.
“Accordingly, India’s total exports touched a historic $824.92 billion in 2024–25, growing by 6.01% over the previous year’s $778.13 billion — marking a new milestone in the country’s trade trajectory amid global headwinds,” an official said who did not wish to be named. According to the provisional data released on April 15, India’s overall exports (merchandise and services combined) in 2024-25 were $820.93 billion as compared to $778.13 billion in 2023-24, registering 5.5% growth.
Telecommunications, information and technology services, logistics, transport, tourism and financial services are the key drivers for India’s services exports, he said.
Merchandise exports excluding petroleum products surged to an all-time high in FY25, he said.
“In 2024–25, India’s non-petroleum exports soared to $374.1 billion, rising by 6.0% from $352.9 billion in the previous year — the highest ever recorded annual non-petroleum merchandise exports,” he said.
