Trade Deficit Increases to Three-Month High of $34.68 Billion in January 2026

India’s gold imports in January 2026 increased a whopping 349.22% to $12.07 billion while silver imports stood at 127% higher at $2 billion.

The Wire Staff

India’s gold imports in January 2026 increased a whopping 349.22% to $12.07 billion while silver imports stood at 127% higher at $2 billion.

trade deficit increases to three month high of 34 68 billion in january 2026

Representative image. Photo: File

New Delhi: A 19.19% increase in year-on-year imports took India’s goods trade deficit to a three-month high of $34.68 billion in January 2026 with imports standing at $71.23 billion, reported The Hindu Businessline.

While the imports were largely fuelled by gold and silver inflows, exports registered a marginal increase of 0.61% to $36.56 billion. The latest trade deficit is much higher than what it was in January 2025, when the figure stood at $23.43 billion.

“The country’s exports remain northwards both in goods and services... We expect to be in the vicinity of $860 billion overall exports in the current fiscal. And in services we expect to be over $410 billion,” commerce secretary Rajesh Agrawal said at a media briefing on Monday (February 16).

In FY25, the combined exports of goods and services stood at $825.3 billion, registering a 6.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) growth. At the same time, exports of goods were almost flat at $437.42 billion, said The Hindu Businessline report.

Meanwhile, China was India’s top source of imports in January 2026 with inbound shipments increasing 16.67% to $12.23 billion.

India’s gold imports in January 2026 increased a whopping 349.22% to $12.07 billion while silver imports stood at 127% higher at $2 billion.

This article went live on February seventeenth, two thousand twenty six, at six minutes past two in the afternoon.

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