After recording unstinted growth for three straight months, which had triggered a hope of consistent recovery, Indian exports blipped by 1.5% in July this year, as compared to the same period previous year.

Merchandise shipments in July tallied to just under $34 billion, the weakest number since November 2023 and the second worst since October 2022. The drag was experienced from petroleum exports which dropped 22.2%, while gems and jewellery fell 20.4%, chemicals slipped 12%, and restrictions on certain food exports continued to hurt. The star performers were electronics (up 37.3%), readymade garments (11.8%) and handicrafts (13.2%).

This was accompanied by a tangible 7.5% rise in the import bill, fuelled by a 17.4% surge in petroleum imports, and a significant rise in consumer demand-driven ‘non-oil, non-gold’ imports such as electronics, pulses and vegetable oils. Shrinking exports and rising imports has pushed up the trade deficit by almost 24% to $23.5 billion — a nine month-peak.