India’s exports in December 2022 have fallen 12 per cent from a year ago. This is the second time in three months that the value of outbound merchandise shipments has tanked yearonyear.

In October 2022, exports fell 16 per cent for the first time in 21 months. Shipments to as many as 19 of 30 major exporting sectors shrank in December 2022, including cotton yarn and handlooms (by 40 per cent), handicrafts ( by 36 per cent), petroleum products ( by 26 per cent), plastic and linoleum (by 26 per cent), gems and jewellery ( by 15 per cent). Engineering goods exports, the mainstay of India’s exports in recent years, dropped nearly 12 per cent in December 2022. Overall engineering exports are down three per cent so far in 2022-23 following six consecutive months of contraction.

Exports of Indian apparels and textiles got a major hit due to recessionary trend in major economies. Given the cumulative growth until December 2022, and the indicators of the slowdown in global economic activity, there is cautious optimism on international trade in the last quarter of the current financial year. Despite a dip in two months, merchandise exports in the first nine months of 2022-23 are still nine per cent higher than a year ago. Goods imports, on the other hand, are up 25 per cent.