India’s merchandise trade data for April–October 2025 shows a deepening of long-standing patterns: the United States remains India’s largest export destination, while China continues to dominate India’s import basket. The latest trends highlight both the strength of India’s outward-facing sectors and its reliance on foreign supply chains for critical inputs.
Exports to the US climbed to $52.12 billion, powered by India’s strongest performing categories, engineering goods, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and gems & jewellery. These sectors continue to enjoy steady American demand, especially engineering goods and specialty drugs.
The next three export destinations were the UAE ($22.14 bn), Netherlands ($11.98 bn), and China ($10.03 bn). The UAE’s imports from India were driven by refined petroleum and jewellery, while exports to the Netherlands were dominated by petroleum products routed through European trading hubs. Shipments to China included chemicals, minerals, and engineering equipment, reflecting India’s role as a raw-material and intermediate-goods supplier in Asian manufacturing chains.
On the import front, China retained an overwhelming lead with $73.99 billion worth of shipments to India. These were concentrated in electronic components, consumer electronics, electrical machinery, chemicals, and engineering parts, inputs critical to India’s manufacturing and assembly ecosystem.
The UAE ($40.36 bn) was India’s second-largest import source, driven largely by crude oil, petroleum products, and precious metals. Russia ($35.97 bn) followed, with imports dominated almost entirely by discounted crude oil, which continues to play a major role in India’s energy mix.
Across commodities, India’s import basket was led by petroleum ($106.91 bn), followed by electronics ($65.73 bn) and gold ($41.24 bn) a combination of energy dependence, electronics demand, and rising bullion prices.
