India exported goods worth $275 million to remote Honduras in Central America during the April 2024-March 2025 period as against $201 million to nearby Cambodia. The population of Honduras is just 10 million as against Cambodia’s 17 million.
India’s exports to the Dominican Republic were $382 million while it was $263 million to Kazhakstan. While the exports to Guatemala were $635 million, it was just $614 million to Myanmar.
Brace for more surprising facts. The exports to Brazil ($6.7 billion) were higher than to the traditional trade partners such as Japan ($6.25 billion), South Korea ($5.82 billion) and Vietnam ($5.43 billion) while it exports $4.55 billion to Sri Lanka and $5.38 billion and $4.8 billion to Indonesia and Thailand respectively.
While exports to Mexico ($5.75 billion) are more than the exports to Russia ($4.88 billion), Canada ($4.22 billion) and Egypt (#3.41 billion).
This is not a one-year wonder. This is the clear continuing trend in the last decade. India was the seventh largest supplier of goods to Latin America with $20.22 billion in 2024. However, this is just 1.4 per cent of Latin America’s total imports of $1.4 trillion dollars in 2024 and there is still scope to increase India’s exports to $50 billion dollars in the next five years.
Motorcycles ride the wave
India’s motorcycle exports to Latin America were $1.5 billion which is 46% of India’s total exports. While Mexico was the number one destination for India’s global export of motorcycles in 2024-25 at $390 million,
Colombia was in number two with $380 million and Guatemala was in fourth position with $173 million. Other destinations include Brazil at $123 million, Argentina at $89 million, Peru at $68 million and Honduras at $60 million. Earlier, Colombia used to be the number 1 destination and India is the number two supplier of motorcycles to Latin America, after China.
Car exports
Car exports to Latin America were $1,788 million. This was 25% of India’s global car exports of $7.24 billion. The major destinations included Mexico at $938 million, Chile at $257 million, Peru at $160 million, Panama at $68 million, Colombia at $75 million, Costa Rica at $59 million, Guatemala at $54 million and Ecuador at $44 million.
Pharmaceuticals
Pharma exports were 1.8 billion dollars. Major destinations: Brazil $520 million dollars (up from $416 million last year), Mexico $198 million, Chile 212 $million, Venezuela $177 million, Colombia $157 million, Peru $110 million, Guatemala $89 million, Dominican Republic $73 million and Ecuador $40 million.
India ranks as the 5th largest supplier of pharmaceuticals to Latin America, after the US, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland. However, it is the second supplier of pharmaceuticals to Peru, the Dominican Republic and Guatemala. It is number three in Chile, five in Honduras and El Salvador. and 8 in Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
The major exports include vehicles ($4.88 billion), chemicals ($3.3 billion), pharmaceuticals ($1.81 billion), machinery ($1.73 billion), petroleum products ($1.17 billion), iron and steel ($884 million), apparels ($684 million), textile fibres and filaments ($422 million), aluminium products ($592 million), plastics (492 million), cotton (495 million) and rubber products ($434 million).
Imports
The main import items are crude oil ($7.2 billion), raw gold ($7.06 billion), vegetable oil ($3.74 billion), raw sugar ($1.36 billion), copper including concentrate ($2.75 billion), machinery and equipment ($855 million), wood $(548 million), chemicals ($436 million), fresh fruits ($195 million), cotton ($182 million), paper pulp $156 (million), and pulses ($170 million).
Crude oil imports which reached a peak of around $15 billion in 2013-14 came down drastically due to US sanctions on Venezuela which had supplied $10 billion of crude in 2013-14.
Main sources of crude oil imports: Colombia $2.18 billion, Mexico $1.58 billion, Brazil $1.4 billion, Venezuela $1.58 billion and Ecuador $157 million.
Raw gold import sourcing: Peru $4.46 billion (up from $2.8 billion last year), Colombia $834 million, Dom Republic $603 million, Argentina $466 million, Mexico $208 million, Bolivia $364 million (down from $1077 million last year), Chile $70 million and Brazil $46 million.
Latin America is the main source of soy oil imports from India. Argentina is the #1 global supplier with $2.98 billion (up from $1.9 billion last year), followed by Brazil with $783 million.
Brazil is the source of imports of raw sugar which India refines and reexports to other countries.
Chile, the main supplier of copper and other mineral concentrates from the region, supplied $1.59 billion, followed by Peru $428 million and Colombia $103 million. The main suppliers of wood from the region: Brazil $129 million, Uruguay $115 million, Ecuador $106 million, Panama $38 million,
Latin America is a large substantial market of 19 countries, population of $620 million and GDP of $6 trillion dollars with a per capita income close to $10,000 dollars. Latin Americans have started attaching more importance to trade with India, as part of their strategy to reduce over dependence on China and to diversify from the protectionist Europe and the US.
India is the fifth largest destination for Latin America’s exports after US, China, Canada and Spain. This means India is more important than Germany, UK, France or Japan.
How to boost India’s exports
India should open embassies in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Uruguay. The commercial section of the embassies in the region should be strengthened with dedicated India-based and local officers with adequate budgets.
India should start negotiations for an FTA with Mexico and Colombia, the second and third largest destinations of exports to Latin America. The ongoing FTA talks with Peru and Chile are to be concluded soon.
India should join as a member of the Inter-American Development Bank to enable Indian companies to participate in the large infrastructure projects of the Bank. It should consider extending more lines of credit to the region. While China has given more than 150 billion dollars of credit to Latin America, India’s credit is not even one billion.
China has over 60 Latin America study centres but India has just three. The Ministry of External Affairs should encourage and fund Latin America study centres to do research, especially on Latin American markets and business opportunities.
