How is the export data for the month of February 2022?

Trade data for February 2022 has been released via preliminary data by the Ministry of Commerce on 02 March. As per the early estimates by the Ministry of Commerce, merchandise (physical goods) exports for the month of Feb-22 were up 22.36% on a yoy basis at $33.81 billion. The growth in exports on a yoy basis was predominantly driven by engineering goods, petro products as well as robust exports of gems & jewellery.

However, despite higher exports on yoy basis, the pace of exports growth has been slackening on a sequential basis and one reason for this has been the supply chain constraints imposed by the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Merchandise imports for Feb-22 were also 35% higher on a yoy basis at $55.01 billion. This resulted in a huge trade deficit of $21.19 billion for Feb-22 as oil prices continue to put pressure on trade.