NEW DELHI, May 17: North America, North-East Asia, and Latin America together accounted for over 35 per cent of India’s merchandise exports, which stood at USD 441.78 billion in 2025-26, reflecting a gradual shift towards a more diversified and resilient global trade structure, according to commerce ministry data.
Exports to East Africa increased 13.7 per cent to USD 12.6 billion, accounting for 2.9 per cent of India’s exports, while North Africa rose 14.8 per cent to USD 8 billion with a 1.8 per cent share.
“India’s exports in 2025-26 reflected increasing geographic diversification, with strong growth across Asia, Africa, and Latin America even amid global trade disruptions,” an official said.
According to the data, while North America continued to dominate India’s export basket with exports of USD 97.7 billion accounting for 22.1 per cent of total exports, growth remained relatively moderate at 1.3 per cent year-on-year, that indicates to a mature but resilient demand base.
The strongest momentum came from North-East Asia, where exports surged 21.6 per cent to USD 41.6 billion, raising the region’s share to 9.4 per cent of India’s total exports.
In this region, there is a rising demand for Indian electronics, engineering goods, chemicals, and industrial products.
The countries in this region include China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, and Taiwan. These countries have advance manufacturing industries.
Latin America maintained healthy expansion as exports rose 7.8 per cent to USD 16.4 billion, contributing 3.7 per cent to India’s total exports.
Meanwhile, exports to West Africa and Other West Asia remained relatively stable around 3 per cent and 2 per cent shares, respectively.
Smaller regions such as Central Africa and Central Asian Republic countries also posted steady double-digit growth, albeit from a lower base.
EXPORT PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION
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India’s export diversification in FY26 was marked by a significant widening of its product-market footprint, with Indian exporters penetrating 1,821 new principal commodities products.
“The trend highlights a gradual shift from traditional commodity-led expansion toward broader participation across high-value manufacturing, engineering, agri-processing, and technology-intensive sectors,” the official said.
The strongest value contribution came from advanced engineering and industrial sectors. Ship, boat and floating structures emerged as the single largest contributor, generating USD 57 million across 19 new markets, reflecting India’s growing competitiveness in specialised maritime manufacturing.
Similarly, nuclear reactors, industrial boilers and parts recorded a USD 14.3 million across 13 new markets, while telecom instruments expanded into 20 new markets with exports of USD 5.8 million, indicating increasing integration into global industrial and technology supply chains.
Further, several emerging sectors also gained traction in new markets, including aircraft and spacecraft parts, railway transport equipment, graphite and explosives, and consumer electronics, pointing toward a gradual broadening of India’s advanced manufacturing export base. (PTI)
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