India's merchandise exports climbed 14% in April, outpacing the increase in imports, led by outbound shipments of engineering goods, petroleum products and electronics goods. Merchandise exports were estimated at $43.56 billion last month, up from $38.28 billion a year earlier, according to provisional data released by the ministry of commerce and industry. Imports climbed 10% to $71.94 billion from $65.38 billion. The trade deficit widened to $28.38 billion from $27.1 billion in April last year. Services exports rose to $37.24 billion in April from $32.85 billion a year earlier, while services imports eased to $16.66 billion from $16.91 billion. The overall trade deficit, including services, narrowed to $7.81 billion in April from $11.16 billion a year ago. Total exports, including merchandise and services, rose to $80.80 billion from $71.13 billion, while total imports increased to $88.61 billion from $82.29 billion.

"Despite the challenges posed by the conflict in West Asia, total merchandise exports rose to a 49-month high of $43.6 billion in April 2026. This partly benefitted from higher commodity prices, with the value of oil exports rising to a 24-month high of $9.6 billion", said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra Ltd. In March, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $20.67 billion after exports fell to $38.92 billion and imports declined to $59.59 billion. Merchandise exports in April were led by engineering goods, which increased 8.76% to $10.35 billion, petroleum products, which rose 34.7% to $9.6 billion, and electronic goods, which were 40% higher at $5.17 billion.

"Geopolitical tensions in different parts of the world have led to massive trade disruptions. But despite these challenges, the Indian engineering sector has shown remarkable resilience", said Pankaj Chadha, chairman of EEPC India, a trade and investment promotion organization sponsored by the ministry of commerce.

Chadha said that while this is very encouraging, the coming months remain difficult. The engineering sector is witnessing a sharp increase in input costs. "Besides, logistics costs have skyrocketed. Steel and its products continue to face high tariffs in the US, our biggest export market", he said. Among imports, electronic goods rose 38.2% to $12.8 billion, gold climbed 82% to $5.6 billion and electrical and non-electrical machinery increased 13.9% to $5.3 billion. Petroleum, crude and products fell 10% from a year earlier to $18.6 billion.