India’s Exports Hit Record US$860 Billion in FY26 Despite Global Headwinds

India’s total exports of goods and services rose to a record US$860.09 billion in FY2025-26, up 4.22% from US$825.26 billion in the previous fiscal year, according to official trade data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The new high reflects continued resilience in India’s external sector even as exporters navigated geopolitical disruptions, freight volatility and uneven global demand.

The official figures show that merchandise exports in FY26 stood at US$441.78 billion, while services exports were estimated at US$418.31 billion. On the import side, total goods and services imports rose to US$979.40 billion, leaving India with an overall trade deficit of US$119.30 billion, wider than the US$94.66 billion gap recorded in FY25.

The data suggests that services remained a major stabilising force in India’s trade profile. While merchandise trade continued to face pressure, the services sector delivered an estimated trade surplus of US$213.89 billion in FY26, helping offset part of the much larger merchandise trade deficit. Non-petroleum exports also showed strength, rising 3.62% year-on-year to US$387.88 billion, indicating that export momentum was not driven solely by volatile commodity segments.

March itself, however, was a more difficult month. Official data showed merchandise exports at US$38.92 billion and merchandise imports at US$59.59 billion for the month. Reuters reported that India’s March trade performance was shaped by two opposing forces: a rise in exports to the United States and a sharp hit to shipments linked to the West Asia crisis, which disrupted shipping routes and pushed up logistics and insurance costs.

According to Reuters, exports to the US rose sharply in March, helping cushion the damage from a US$3.5 billion drop in exports to the Middle East, as cited by Trade Secretary Rajesh Agrawal. That pattern highlights the increasingly complex environment facing Indian exporters, where market diversification is becoming just as important as scale.

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal described the FY26 performance as a new export milestone for India, while also arguing that recently concluded trade agreements could help sustain momentum by opening new markets. Taken together, the record export figure and the widening import bill show that India’s trade sector is expanding, but it is doing so in a far more competitive and geopolitically uncertain global landscape

Source: PIB