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Charted: A Breakdown of India’s Overseas Trade in 2023
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In 2023, India’s total overseas trade value (combining merchandise imports and exports) stood at slightly over $1 trillion, about one-third of the $3.7 trillion economy.
To put into perspective, this is the size of Netherland’s gross domestic product, the 18th biggest economy in the world.
But who are India’s biggest export and import partners?
This chart by creator Preyash Shah breaks down the key countries with whom India imported goods from, and exported merchandise to, in the 2023 fiscal year (FY). It does not cover the value of services trade.
There’s also a historical six-year trend of India’s total merchandise trade since FY17. Data for this graphic is sourced from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
India’s Biggest Import Partners, By Country
China heads India’s sources of imports, with nearly $100 billion worth of goods imported in FY23. This is almost the same value as India’s next two biggest import partners combined: the UAE ($53 billion) and the U.S. ($50 billion).
Consumer electronics, computer hardware, and electrical machinery are some of India’s top imported goods from China.
RankCountry/TerritoryRegionFY23 Imports
(Million $)
1 ChinaAsia$98,506
2 UAEMiddle East$53,232
3 U.S.North America$50,864
4 RussiaEurope$46,213
5 Saudi ArabiaMiddle East$42,035
6 IraqMiddle East$34,386
7 IndonesiaAsia$28,820
8 SingaporeAsia$23,595
9 South KoreaAsia$21,227
10 AustraliaOceania$19,011
11 Hong KongAsia$18,275
12 QatarMiddle East$16,808
13 GermanyEurope$16,602
14 JapanAsia$16,495
15 SwitzerlandEurope$15,794
16 MalaysiaAsia$12,735
17 KuwaitMiddle East$12,247
18 ThailandAsia$11,193
19 South AfricaAfrica$10,398
20 BelgiumEurope$9,178
21 United KingdomEurope$8,961
22 VietnamAsia$8,795
23 TaiwanAsia$8,264
24 OmanMiddle East$7,911
25 NigeriaAfrica$6,693
26 BrazilSouth America$6,673
27 FranceEurope$6,201
28 NetherlandsEurope$5,961
29 ItalyEurope$5,592
30 TurkeyAsia$4,209
31 CanadaNorth America$4,168
32 ArgentinaSouth America$3,929
33 MexicoNorth America$3,868
34 IrelandEurope$3,630
35 AngolaAfrica$3,599
36 SpainEurope$3,002
37 ColombiaSouth America$2,634
38 BoliviaSouth America$2,550
39 MoroccoAfrica$2,549
40 TanzaniaAfrica$2,541
41 MozambiqueAfrica$2,522
42 IsraelMiddle East$2,323
43 JordanMiddle East$2,290
44 PeruSouth America$2,251
45 GuineaAfrica$2,083
46 CongoAfrica$2,026
47 BangladeshAsia$2,021
48 EgyptAfrica$1,952
49 GhanaAfrica$1,910
50 SwedenEurope$1,730
51 AlgeriaAfrica$1,504
52 FinlandEurope$1,492
53 ChileSouth America$1,436
54 SenegalAfrica$1,377
55 PolandEurope$1,366
56 GreeceEurope$1,158
57 Sri LankaAsia$1,078
58 EcuadorSouth America$1,016
59 BahrainMiddle East$1,015
60 PhilippinesAsia$960
61 MyanmarAsia$955
62 NorwayEurope$938
63 NepalAsia$842
64 AustriaEurope$838
65 Czech RepublicEurope$778
66 DenmarkEurope$770
67 LibyaAfrica$730
68 Equatorial GuineaAfrica$712
69 IranMiddle East$672
70 Cote D’ IvoireAfrica$665
71 UkraineEurope$650
72 Papua New GuineaOceania$643
73 RomaniaEurope$562
74 CameroonAfrica$550
75 TogoAfrica$541
76 BhutanAsia$536
77 AzerbaijanAsia$498
78 MaldivesAsia$497
79 UgandaAfrica$493
80 New ZealandOceania$478
81 BotswanaAfrica$460
82 AfghanistanAsia$453
83 BeninAfrica$453
84 BulgariaEurope$433
85 TunisiaAfrica$421
86 GabonAfrica$398
87 Dominican RepublicNorth America$360
88 HungaryEurope$307
89 BruneiAsia$304
90 SloveniaEurope$298
91 PanamaNorth America$283
92 VenezuelaSouth America$253
93 LatviaEurope$250
94 MauritaniaAfrica$232
95 SudanAfrica$218
96 DRCAfrica$214
97 KazakhstanAsia$205
98 UruguaySouth America$199
99 PortugalEurope$196
100 ZambiaAfrica$185
101 Guinea-BissauAfrica$170
102 GeorgiaAsia$167
103 YemenMiddle East$161
104 CambodiaAsia$146
105 EstoniaEurope$140
106 MadagascarAfrica$129
107 NigerAfrica$120
108 Puerto RicoOthers$119
109 CroatiaEurope$118
110 KenyaAfrica$117
111 Burkina FasoAfrica$116
112 CyprusAsia$116
113 LithuaniaEurope$114
114 TurkmenistanAsia$102
115 LuxembourgEurope$101
116 LebanonMiddle East$92
117 MauritiusAfrica$92
118 Trinidad & TobagoNorth America$91
119 LaosAsia$74
120 ArmeniaAsia$73
121 GibraltarOthers$72
122 SlovakiaEurope$71
123 BelarusEurope$68
124 Costa RicaNorth America$61
125 EthiopiaAfrica$57
126 DjiboutiAfrica$56
127 MaltaEurope$51
128 GambiaAfrica$51
129 Sierra LeoneAfrica$50
130 SurinameSouth America$49
131 UzbekistanAsia$48
132 MalawiAfrica$43
133 RwandaAfrica$40
134 NamibiaAfrica$38
135 Solomon IslandsOceania$33
136 Reunion IslandsOceania$29
137 LiberiaAfrica$27
138 GuatemalaNorth America$21
139 PakistanAsia$20
140 MaliAfrica$20
141 ParaguaySouth America$20
142 SomaliaAfrica$18
143 ComorosAfrica$16
144 SamoaOceania$16
145 HondurasNorth America$15
146 SerbiaEurope$14
147 MacaoAsia$13
148 HaitiNorth America$12
149 NicaraguaNorth America$11
150 AlbaniaEurope$11
151 British Virgin IslandsOthers$11
152 SyriaMiddle East$9
153 ZimbabweAfrica$9
154 SeychellesAfrica$9
155 New CaledoniaOthers$7
156 ChadAfrica$6
157 JamaicaNorth America$5
158 IcelandEurope$5
159 EswatiniAfrica$5
160 CubaNorth America$5
161 Cape VerdeAfrica$4
162 GuyanaSouth America$4
163 KyrghyzstanAsia$4
164 MoldovaEurope$4
165 BahamasNorth America$4
166 Central African RepublicAfrica$3
167 Bosnia & HerzegovinaEurope$3
168 North KoreaAsia$2
169 El SalvadorNorth America$2
170 LiechtensteinEurope$2
171 French GuianaOthers$2
172 GrenadaNorth America$1
173 MacedoniaEurope$1
174 BarbadosNorth America$1
175 St Kitts & NevisNorth America$1
176 MartiniqueOthers$1
177 South SudanAfrica$1
178 BelizeNorth America$1
179 U.S. Virgin IslandsOthers$1
180 MonacoEurope$1
181 MongoliaAsia$1
182 AntarcticaOthers$1
183 Marshall IslandOthers$1
184 ArubaOthers$1
185 MayotteOthers$1
186 DominicaNorth America$1
187 AntiguaNorth America$1
188 French PolynesiaOthers$1
189 TajikistanAsia$1
190 PalestineMiddle East$0
191 BurundiAfrica$0
192 GuadeloupeOthers$0
193 GreenlandEurope$0
194 GuamOthers$0
195 Saint LuciaNorth America$0
196 FijiOceania$0
197 MontenegroEurope$0
198 BermudaOthers$0
199 NauruOthers$0
200 St HelenaOthers$0
201 TongaOceania$0
202 EritreaAfrica$0
203 MicronesiaOthers$0
204 Cayman IslandsOthers$0
205 LesothoAfrica$0
206 Pitcairn IslandsOthers$0
207 Sao TomeOthers$0
208 Timor-LesteAsia$0
N/A WorldN/A$715,855
Note: Numbers are rounded. The “other” regional classification comes from the source.
Russia, ranked fourth ($46 billion), is the sole European representative in the top 10, a key supplier to India’s crude oil imports, which accounted for almost one-third of the country’s massive $716 billion import bill in FY23.
India’s Biggest Export Partners, By Country
India exported nearly $80 billion worth of merchandise in FY23 to the U.S., which is its largest overseas market by quite a margin.
In fact, Indian goods bound for the U.S. are about the same in value as exports to the next four biggest Indian overseas markets combined: the UAE, Netherlands, China, and Bangladesh.
For the U.S. though, this enormous amount is almost a footnote in their share of biggest import partners, accounting for less than 3% of its $3.9 trillion import bill.
RankCountry/TerritoryFY23 Exports
(Million $)FY23 Trade
Difference
1 U.S.$78,543$27,679
2 UAE$31,609-$21,623
3 Netherlands$21,618$15,657
4 China$15,306-$83,200
5 Bangladesh$12,216$10,195
6 Singapore$11,993-$11,602
7 United Kingdom$11,406$2,445
8 Saudi Arabia$10,728-$31,308
9 Germany$10,135-$6,467
10 Indonesia$10,024-$18,796
11 Brazil$9,919$3,247
12 Hong Kong$9,893-$8,382
13 Turkey$9,610$5,401
14 Belgium$8,864-$314
15 Italy$8,691$3,100
16 South Africa$8,474-$1,923
17 Israel$8,451$6,128
18 Nepal$8,079$7,238
19 France$7,610$1,409
20 Malaysia$7,156-$5,579
21 Australia$6,951-$12,060
22 South Korea$6,654-$14,573
23 Togo$6,048$5,507
24 Vietnam$5,909-$2,886
25 Thailand$5,710-$5,484
26 Japan$5,461-$11,034
27 Mexico$5,196$1,329
28 Nigeria$5,159-$1,533
29 Sri Lanka$5,112$4,033
30 Spain$4,661$1,659
31 Oman$4,477-$3,434
32 Canada$4,110-$58
33 Egypt$4,109$2,158
34 Tanzania$3,935$1,394
35 Kenya$3,274$3,157
36 Russia$3,147-$43,066
37 Iraq$2,697-$31,689
38 Taiwan$2,637-$5,627
39 Mozambique$2,506-$15
40 Poland$2,323$957
41 Jordan$2,144-$147
42 Philippines$2,094$1,135
43 Qatar$1,967-$14,841
44 Sudan$1,816$1,598
45 Iran$1,659$987
46 Kuwait$1,560-$10,687
47 Colombia$1,448-$1,186
48 Switzerland$1,347-$14,447
49 Austria$1,262$424
50 Djibouti$1,191$1,136
51 Czech Republic$1,169$391
52 Chile$1,166-$269
53 Senegal$1,134-$243
54 Bhutan$1,079$543
55 Morocco$1,047-$1,502
56 Portugal$1,005$809
57 Yemen$1,000$839
58 Bahrain$965-$49
59 Ghana$964-$945
60 Sweden$962-$768
61 Argentina$960-$2,969
62 Somalia$946$928
63 Denmark$911$141
64 Benin$893$440
65 Cote D’ Ivoire$888$223
66 Peru$866-$1,385
67 Myanmar$807-$148
68 Greece$786-$372
69 Romania$744$182
70 Guinea$632-$1,451
71 DRC$631$417
72 Pakistan$627$607
73 Angola$622-$2,978
74 Algeria$614-$890
75 Slovenia$611$313
76 Ethiopia$586$528
77 Ireland$582-$3,049
78 Hungary$575$268
79 Norway$569-$369
80 Uganda$560$67
81 Cameroon$553$3
82 New Zealand$548$70
83 Finland$533-$959
84 Madagascar$525$396
85 Maldives$477-$20
86 Guatemala$465$445
87 Mauritius$463$371
88 Gibraltar$445$373
89 Afghanistan$437-$16
90 Kazakhstan$437$231
91 Tunisia$423$2
92 Lebanon$403$311
93 Ecuador$400-$617
94 Lithuania$357$243
95 Albania$345$334
96 Croatia$340$222
97 Libya$338-$392
98 Dominican Republic$330-$31
99 Panama$315$31
100 Malta$313$261
101 Uzbekistan$283$235
102 Zambia$281$96
103 Honduras$273$258
104 Puerto Rico$269$149
105 Georgia$265$98
106 Liberia$257$230
107 Namibia$241$203
108 Sierra Leone$237$188
109 Cambodia$220$74
110 Bulgaria$211-$222
111 Costa Rica$193$132
112 Slovakia$190$119
113 Latvia$187-$63
114 Congo$178-$1,848
115 Venezuela$178-$75
116 Burkina Faso$177$60
117 Botswana$171-$289
118 Zimbabwe$157$148
119 Paraguay$156$137
120 Uruguay$155-$44
121 Mauritania$147-$85
122 Rwanda$144$104
123 Ukraine$133-$518
124 Mali$132$112
125 El Salvador$127$125
126 Gambia$123$71
127 Malawi$115$72
128 Nicaragua$109$98
129 Trinidad & Tobago$105$14
130 Syria$103$94
131 Azerbaijan$101-$397
132 Turkmenistan$90-$11
133 Haiti$88$76
134 Jamaica$88$83
135 Papua New Guinea$86-$558
136 Niger$84-$36
137 Serbia$83$69
138 Cyprus$82-$34
139 Gabon$80-$318
140 Fiji$80$80
141 Cuba$79$74
142 Bolivia$77-$2,473
143 Estonia$71-$69
144 Brunei$69-$235
145 Seychelles$65$56
146 Guyana$62$58
147 Armenia$61-$12
148 Chad$58$51
149 Kyrghyzstan$52$48
150 Tajikistan$49$49
151 Reunion Islands$47$18
152 Belarus$44-$24
153 Burundi$43$42
154 Luxembourg$42-$59
155 Comoros$40$24
156 Timor-Leste$35$35
157 Mongolia$34$33
158 South Sudan$32$31
159 Montenegro$28$28
160 Macedonia$28$27
161 Barbados$24$23
162 Equatorial Guinea$23-$689
163 Central African Republic$21$18
164 New Caledonia$19$11
165 Eritrea$18$18
166 Bosnia & Herzegovina$17$15
167 Laos$17-$57
168 Belize$16$15
169 Lesotho$15$15
170 Eswatini$15$10
171 Aruba$15$14
172 Bahamas$13$9
173 Suriname$12-$37
174 Moldova$12$8
175 Iceland$10$5
176 French Polynesia$10$10
177 Guinea-Bissau$10-$160
178 U.S. Virgin Islands$8$7
179 Cayman Islands$6$6
180 Mayotte$6$5
181 Martinique$5$4
182 Saint Lucia$5$5
183 Bermuda$5$5
184 Cape Verde$5$0
185 Macao$4-$9
186 Grenada$4$2
187 Guadeloupe$3$3
188 Dominica$3$2
189 Antigua$3$2
190 Monaco$3$2
191 Solomon Islands$3-$30
192 Palestine$3$2
193 St Kitts & Nevis$3$1
194 North Korea$2-$1
195 Sao Tome$2$2
196 French Guiana$2$0
197 Tonga$1$1
198 Samoa$1-$15
199 Guam$1$0
200 Micronesia$1$1
201 Marshall Island$0$0
202 British Virgin Islands$0-$10
203 Liechtenstein$0-$2
204 Nauru$0$0
205 Antarctica$0-$1
206 St Helena$0$0
207 Greenland$0$0
208 Pitcairn Islands$0$0
N/A World$447,982-$267,873
Note: Numbers are rounded.
The rest of India’s top 10 export destinations include two other Asian countries (Singapore, Indonesia), two from Europe (the UK, Germany) and one from the Middle East (Saudi Arabia).
Brazil, ranked 11th, is India’s sole South American export market in the top 30.
India manages a surplus in trade with four of its 10 biggest export markets, including the U.S.
But China—which tops India’s import sources and is fourth in export destinations—alone accounted for nearly one-third of India’s $268 billion trade deficit in FY23.
Six Years of India’s Trade Deficit
India’s trade deficit has only grown in the last six years, coming in at $268 billion in FY23.
YearIndia ImportsIndia ExportsIndia Trade Deficit
FY17$384B$276B-$108B
FY18$466B$304B-$162B
FY19$514B$330B-$184B
FY20$475B$313B-$162B
FY21$394B$292B-$102B
FY22$613B$422B-$191B
FY23$716B$448B-$268B
Note: Numbers are rounded.
With a large population, and not as quite big a manufacturing base, the country is reliant on overseas sources to meet its always growing demand. This, combined with its reliance on outside crude supply results in a gap that is never quite closed.
The post Charted: A Breakdown of India’s Overseas Trade in 2023 appeared first on Visual Capitalist.