India's merchandise exports declined for the 14th month in a row in January 2016, an indication of more stress ahead for Asia's third-largest economy, as exports constitute about a fifth of its gross domestic product.
Exports during January were valued at $21.07 billion, down 13.60 percent from $24.39 billion during January 2015, according to a statement issued by the Indian ministry of commerce & industry.
Imports dropped 11 percent to $28.71 billion, as compared to $32.26 billion during the corresponding period last year.
The trade deficit for the month narrowed to $7.64 billion, the lowest in 11 months.
The cumulative value of exports for the period from April 2015 to January 2016 was $217.67 billion, down 17.65 percent from $264.32 billion during the corresponding period last fiscal.
Oil imports during January 2016 were valued at $5.02 billion, a drop of 39 percent from $8.24 billion during January 2015, a direct outcome of falling crude oil prices globally.
Non-oil imports declined marginally to $23.68 billion in January 2016 from $24.02 billion in January, 2015.
Gold imports rose 85 percent to $2.91 billion.
The cumulative value of imports for the period from April 2015 to January 2016 was estimated at $324.52 billion, down 15.46 percent from $383.87 billion during the corresponding period last fiscal.
The trade deficit for the nine-month period ended January 2016 was estimated at $106.84 billion, down from $119.55 billion during the corresponding period last fiscal, according to the statement.
"The trend of falling exports is in tandem with other major world economies. The growth in exports have fallen for USA (10.51%), European Union (9.48%) and China (7.01%) for November 2015 over the corresponding period previous year as per WTO statistics," the statement said.
