India: Export growth slows in December
Merchandise export growth slowed to 0.3% in December, down from 0.8% in November. The slowdown was primarily due to a high base effect, while the expansion itself was underpinned by increased exports of electronic goods and petroleum products. Merchandise imports, meanwhile, decreased 2.4% in December, contrasting growth of 4.3% in November. This outturn was also explained by a high base effect and reflected fewer imports of gold and a substantially-moderated increase in oil imports.
The merchandise trade deficit was USD 13.1 billion in December, wider than the USD 14.1 billion shortfall in the same month a year earlier but narrower than the USD 16.7 billion deficit in the previous month. The 12-month trailing sum of the trade deficit narrowed to USD 183.2 billion in December from USD 184.3 billion in November, the first such narrowing since September 2017.