India’s exports increased by nearly 20 percent in November year-on-year, the country’s fastest growth in three years, driven primarily by exports to the United States and China.
The rise comes at a time when many countries are struggling to protect exports from the impact of steep US tariffs introduced by US President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, the US slapped an additional 25 percent tariff on India in retaliation for its continued purchases of Russian oil, Trump said, bringing total tariffs to 50 percent.
The November rise in Indian exports also comes as China recorded a trade surplus of more than $1 trillion, in part reflecting how global trade flows are being reshaped as a result of the Trump trade wars.
The export figures, reported this week by India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry, reflected resilient demand for Indian goods and a strategy of diversifying to new export markets, the ministry said, an approach other countries are also adopting as they look to reduce reliance on the US.
India’s goods exports were valued at $38.13bn in November 2025, up about 19.4 percent year-on-year. This was a reversal of the 11.8 percent year-on-year decline in exports to $34.38bn that India recorded in October.
Imports, especially of gold, oil, and coal, also decreased by 1.88 percent, helping to shrink India’s goods trade deficit to about $24.5bn, its lowest level since June. In October, the trade deficit had ballooned to $41.68bn.
According to the Commerce Ministry, key drivers for strong exports included engineering goods, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
The healthiest export sectors were engineering, electronics, jewellery and gems, and pharmaceuticals.
“India has held fort on the US exports despite tariffs,” Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said at a press briefing.
Meanwhile, shipments to China surged by 90 percent year-on-year to $2.2bn. China recorded notably higher Indian imports, with electronics and engineering goods seeing sizeable increases.
The Commerce Ministry added that exports to Spain, the United Arab Emirates and Tanzania were also driving growth.
