India's trade: full list of exports, imports

and partner countries

Cameron has spent the week in India discussing trade relations
with Britain. What are India's main exports and imports, and who
are its key trading partners?
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Which countries are India's main trade partners? Click to embiggen

David Cameron has strongly expressed his want for a 'special relationship' with India and with
the largest trade delegation ever to accompany a British prime minister to any country in the world,
the message couldn't be clearer.
India's total merchandise trade has increased over three-fold from $252bn in 2006 to $794 in 2012 -
both exports and imports have trebled during this period according to the Export-Import Bank of
India (Exim bank). The bank is the premier export finance institution of the country and was set up
for the purpose of financing, facilitating, and promoting foreign trade of India.
How does India's trade break down?

Exports
A publication on India's trade and investment by Exim bank highlights the trend in exports moving
towards southern countries, particularly in the Asia and Africa regions. Asia is a key destination of
India's exports - in 2001-02 Asia's share stood at 40.2% but in 2011-12 it grew to to 51.6%. Europe,
however has seen a decline in its share, down to 19% in 2011-12 from 24.8% in 2001-02.
India's key exports in 2012 were petroleum products which generated $56bn, followed by gems and
jewellery with $47bn. Pharma products, transport equipment, machinery and readymade garments
are also big exports for India.

The 2012 data shows that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was India's biggest export market,
closely followed by the USA. The latest data available from the Indian Government's Ministry of
Commerce and Industry covering April-September 2012, shows the US to have slightly overtaken
the UAE. Explore the graphic above to see India's imports and exports by value and year. The UK is
the eighth biggest export market for India and held 2.9% of the market share in April-September
2012.
Imports
Crude petroleum is India's biggest import with $155bn spent on it in 2012. Imports of gold and silver
amounted to $62bn and electronic goods and pearls and precious stones are also top import items
for the country.

India's top import source is China followed by the UAE, Switzerland and Saudi Arabia. The UK came
in at 21st place in 2011-12 with India importing a total of $7.7bn. In the six months recorded so far
for 2012-13, the UK has dropped a place and has a 1.4% share of the India's import sources.

The table below shows India's imports and exports by country including the share. The
downloadable spreadsheet also has data on the top import and export products for the country.
What can you do with this data?

CONSULTANCY SERVICES

EXPORT

Indias Service Exports

US$ billion

2013-
14(Apr 2012- 2011- 2010- 2009- 2008-
2007-08
il- 13 12 11 10 09
Sector
June)
(R)
(P) (P) (PR) (R) (R)
(P)

Services 36.52 145.67 142.32 132.88 96.04 105.96 90.34

Exports

Travel 3.82 17.99 18.46 15.27 11.85 10.89 11.34

Transportation 4.13 17.33 18.24 14.2 11.17 11.31 10.01

Insurance 0.50 2.22 2.63 1.94 1.59 1.42 1.63

G.n.i.e* 0.13 0.57 0.47 0.53 0.44 0.38 0.33

Miscellaneous
27.93 107.54 102.51 100.85 70.97 81.94 67.01
(Total)

Software Services 16.48 65.86 62.21 55.46 49.70 46.30 40.30

Business Services 7.26 28.44 25.91 24.05 11.32 18.60 16.77

Financial Services 1.72 4.94 5.96 6.50 3.69 4.42 3.21

Communication
0.63 1.68 1.60 1.56 1.22 2.29 2.40
Services