Despite ongoing geopolitical tensions in West Asia, India’s goods trade deficit remained largely unchanged from April and narrowed slightly from a year ago, according to government data released on Monday. The goods trade gap was $28.21 billion in May 2026, compared to $28.38 billion in April. Merchandise exports rose 18% to $45.20 billion, while imports rose 20% to $73.41 billion.
The commerce ministry said merchandise exports in May were India’s highest monthly shipment. Official data showed that the overall trade deficit, including goods and services, widened to $10.51 billion in May 2026 from $6.79 billion in May 2025.
According to the ministry, petroleum products, engineering goods, organic and inorganic chemicals, electronic goods and gems and jewelery were the main drivers of merchandise export growth during the month.
Petroleum products saw one of the sharpest increases, with exports rising 54.89% from $5.44 billion in May 2025 to $8.42 billion in May 2026. Exports of engineering goods rose 24.48% to $12.31 billion, while exports of electronic equipment rose $11.62 billion to $5.5 billion. Exports of non-oil goods increased by 10.49% during the period.
Imports from China rose by more than 23% to $12.72 billion during May 2026 from $10.3 billion in the corresponding period last year. Exports to the country also showed a healthy growth of 25% during the month. US exports were largely unchanged, US imports rose nearly 54% year over year in May.
Exports to the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) fell during the period compared to a year ago.
