India’s increasing role in a globalised world and vast growth in the service sector is reflected in its surge in exports and imports. The exports for the financial year 2022-23 turned out to be USD 770 billion, while the imports recorded a new high of USD 892 billion. These figures come when the movement of goods and services is expected to be slow owing to the market slowdown.
“Based on services exports estimates and actual numbers of goods exports, we have surpassed our target of $750 billion to hit $770.18 billion. Growth is significant as there were recessionary conditions elsewhere… despite global headwinds, we have not only achieved the target, but also surpassed it,” Sunil Barthwal, Commerce Secretary, stated at a meeting.
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However, the exports figures are for goods and services combined. If we talk about the goods exported and imported, we see a substantial trade deficit. In the last financial year, the export of goods increased only by 6% to reach the amount of USD 447 billion. However, the imports amounted to USD 714 billion, 16.5% higher than in FY2022. The service sector, which constitutes IT services, also provided incredible buoyancy to the exports supplied by India.
The Information and Technology industry is the leading contributor to the GDP and exports of India and is one of the most extensive services to the world. Notably, these figures are estimations as the Reserve Bank of India is yet to release service trade data. The result is a positive picture for India and exhibits the potential of the leading service provider in the international industry.