New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) Exports rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion in April, the highest monthly outbound shipments in more than four years, driven by petroleum products amid a surge in crude oil prices, but trade deficit widened to a three-month high of USD 28.38 billion due to an uptick in imports.

Imports grew by 10 per cent year-on-year to a six-month high of USD 71.94 billion in April, inflating the trade deficit. The gap between imports and exports, or trade deficit, was USD 27.1 billion in April 2025 and USD 20.67 billion in March 2026.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said that despite global geopolitical tensions, the country's exports are registering healthy growth. Exports grew at the fastest pace in five months in April.

"The positive growth in value may also have some contribution from the price because prices of many things are going up so that may have some positive impact," he told reporters here.

The key drivers of exports include electronic goods (40.31 per cent), meat and dairy (48 per cent), petroleum products (34.66 per cent), engineering items (8.76 per cent), and pharmaceuticals (7.12 per cent).

Electronic exports rose to USD 5.17 billion, while shipments of petroleum products were worth USD 9.6 billion in April.Brent crude oil prices have risen by USD 11.47, or nearly 12 per cent, to USD 107.51 per barrel on May 15 from USD 96.04 per barrel on March 16, 2026. At its peak, Brent crude had surged by USD 30.37, or about 32 per cent, to USD 126.41 per barrel on April 30 compared with the March 16 level.

Diversification of exports in new markets has also helped shipments record the highest growth rate in five months in April. Healthy growth has been registered in destinations such as Singapore, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, and Vietnam.

However, the country's merchandise exports to the West Asian region declined 28 per cent to USD 4.16 billion last month against USD 5.78 billion in April 2025.

Imports from the region also declined by 31.64 per cent to USD 10.47 billion in April from USD 15.32 billion in the year-ago period.

The ongoing US-Iran conflict has severely impacted the movement of ships carrying cargoes in international waters, particularly through the Strait of Hormuz.

As per the commerce ministry data, gold and silver imports rose 81.69 per cent to USD 5.62 billion and 157.16 per cent to USD 411 million, respectively, during the month under review.

Crude oil imports, however, dipped 10 per cent to USD 18.7 billion.

The data also showed that services exports for April are estimated at USD 37.24 billion, compared with USD 32.85 billion in April 2025. The imports were USD 16.66 billion, compared with USD 16.91 billion in April 2025.

When asked about impact of depreciating rupee of exports, the secretary said "till now it has been showing positive trajectory and I think the early signs from May also look at me being in positive".

The government is also suggesting industry to settle international for the last few years in the domestic currency. However, the movement is still at a very nascent stage, he added.

The Indian rupee has depreciated over 6 per cent so far this year. It closed at 95.86 (provisional) against USD on Friday.

Agrawal also said that the ministry will work towards pushing the overall exports to USD 1 trillion in 2026-27.

The Rs 25,060 crore export promotion mission and free trade agreements will help push the shipments this year.

"New operational agreements will create opportunities for our exporters, which they are already working around to see how best we can leverage it. We are looking forward to the operationalisation of some of these FTAs in the next few months," he said.

India has signed trade deals with the UK, Oman, New Zealand and the European Union. PTI RR RR MR