Merchandise exports were $332.8 billion over April-December 2022 against $305 billion in April-December 2021. Non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in April-December 2022 were $233.5 billion, against $230.0 billion in April-December 2021. Petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) exports constituted about 21.1% and non-POL exports were 78.9% of total exports during FY23 (until December 2022).
Owing to the rise in global crude oil prices, petroleum products continued to be the most exported commodity in FY22 and April-December, 2022, followed by gems and jewellery, organic & inorganic chemicals, and drugs & pharmaceuticals.
Bright Spots
The pre-budget annual Economic Survey presented by the Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman said that significant strides in exports were registered in drugs and pharmaceutical, electronic goods, engineering goods and organic and inorganic chemicals sectors in FY22. These sectors have sustained their growth momentum despite global headwinds in H1FY23. India’s pharma exports grew even though Covid impacted disruptions in the supply chain.
It increased significantly from $15.4 billion in FY15 to $24.6 billion in FY22 and stood at $18.8 billion in April-December 2022, registering a growth of 3.6% over April-December 2021. The high growth was on account of the stocking of inventories of medicines by many countries and also because of an increased demand for vaccines and medicines related to the Covid-19 pandemic. India was in a position to provide these supplies.
The country has also been seeing consistent growth in exports of electronic goods. According to the Survey, electronic goods exports — which remained below $10 billion till FY19 — have shown an increase of 51.6% from $11.0 billion in April-December 2021 to $16.7 billion in April-December 2022. Engineering goods exports crossed $100 billion in FY22 for the first time. Organic and inorganic chemicals exports have increased significantly in FY22 and reached $23.0 billion during April-December 2022, registering a growth of 6.5% over the corresponding period last year.
