The Commerce Secretary Dr Anup Wadhawan today said that India’s export performance continues to be impressive, with provisional data of merchandise exports in May 2021 showing a significant growth of 67.39 per cent over May 2020 level and 7.93 per cent over May 2019 level. Talking to media, he said that Merchandise export, excluding PoL and Gems & Jewellery, increased by 45.96 per cent in May 2021 over the same period of 2020-21 and by 11.51 per cent over the same period of 2019-20.

Merchandise imports registered a positive growth of 68.54 per cent during May 2021 vis-à-vis the same period last year. As compared to May 2019, imports have declined by (-) 17.47 per cent during May 2021.

Service exports estimated for May 2021* are USD 17.85 Billion, registering a positive growth of 6.44 per cent vis-à-vis May 2020. The estimated value of services import for May 2021* is USD 9.97 Billion registering a positive growth of 0.30 per cent vis-à-vis May 2020. While, the estimated value of Net of services export for May 2021* is USD 7.88 Billion registering a positive growth of 15.39 per cent vis-à-vis May 2020.

Commodity wise growth trends

The commodities/commodity groups which have recorded positive growth during May 2021 vis-à-vis May 2020 are Other cereals (823.83%), Jute mfg. including floor covering (255.77%), Petroleum products (199.85%), Handicrafts excl. handmade Carpet (192.05%), Gems and jewellery (179.16%), Leather and leather manufactures (155.06%), Manmade yarn/fabs./made-ups etc. (146.35%), Meat, dairy and poultry products (146.19%), Cotton yarn/fabs./made-ups, handloom products etc. (137.92%), RMG of all textiles (114.15%), Carpet (107.97%), Electronic goods (90.8%), Ceramic products and glassware (81.39%), Mica, Coal and other ores, minerals including processed minerals (74.95%), Cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed item (53.66%), Engineering goods (53.14%), Cashew (38.4%), Marine products (33.59%), Iron ore (25.68%), Plastic and Linoleum (20.44%), Organic and inorganic chemicals (20.11%), Tobacco (15.06%), Rice (12.22%), Oil meals (8.28%), Spices (1.37%) and Coffee (1.07%).

Iron Ore exports have been consistently growing throughout 2020-2021 and in the first two months of 2021-22. Rice export has been consistently growing during 2020-2021, April 2021 and May 2021 except for the month of April 2020. Cereal preparations & miscellaneous processed items, Other Cereals and Oil Meals exports have been consistently growing since June 2020. Jute Mfg. including Floor Covering and Carpet exports have been consistently growing since July 2020. Handicrafts excl. handmade carpet, Cotton Yarn/Fabs./made-ups, Handloom Products etc., Ceramic products & glassware, spices and ‘others’ categories exports are growing consistently since September 2020. Mica, Coal & Other Ores, Minerals including processed minerals export is consistently growing since October 2020.

Sectors such as Leather & leather products, Man-made Yarn/Fabs./made-ups etc., and Marine products, which had been exhibiting negative growth during the pandemic (2020-2021), have picked up from March 2021 onwards.

*Note: The latest data for services sector released by RBI is for April 2021. The data for May 2021 is an estimation, which may undergo revision with subsequent releases of RBI.

Trade performance recovery: strong merchandise export growth, diversified sectoral gains and an estimated services surplus improving external trade balance. India's external trade in May 2021 registered marked recovery driven by robust merchandise export growth and a provisional services surplus; merchandise exports excluding PoL and gems & jewellery showed substantial gains, imports rose year on year yet remained below pre pandemic comparators, and numerous commodity groups reported strong year on year increases with several showing sustained recovery since mid 2020. Services figures for May are estimated and may be revised by the central bank.