EconomyExternal
What pays for India's goods trade deficit?
India ran a US$26.9 billion deficit in goods trade in Aug 2026. India's current account ran a US$4.2 billion deficit in April to June 2026, the latest quarter in these RBI figures. It brings together goods, services, income and transfers.
Written for readers following India's external accounts. Data checked on 25 Oct 2026.
What India sells and what it buys
India exported US$43.8 billion of goods and imported US$70.7 billion in Aug 2026. Exports less imports give the goods trade balance.
Goods exports and imports
Monthly, US$ billion. No seasonal adjustment.
How to read it. The gap between the lines is the goods trade balance. A higher import bill can reflect stronger demand in India, higher prices abroad, or both.
Loading chart…
How much of the gap is oil?
Oil trade ran a US$9.9 billion deficit in Aug 2026. Other goods ran a US$17.0 billion deficit, showing how much of the gap lies outside oil.
Oil and non-oil goods balances
Exports less imports, monthly, US$ billion.
How to read it. Below zero means a deficit. The oil and non-oil balances add up to the total goods balance, showing how much of the gap each accounts for.
Loading chart…
Are exports keeping pace with imports?
Comparing the same month across years helps set aside the usual seasonal swings. Growth can still look unusually strong or weak if the earlier year's trade was exceptional.
Export and import growth
US dollar values, % on the same month a year earlier.
How to read it. Look at whether exports or imports are growing faster. Even faster export growth can leave a deficit when the import bill starts from a larger base.
Loading chart…
How much do services and other receipts cover?
Services, income and transfers together brought in a net US$81.8 billion in April to June 2026. These flows, called invisibles, covered 95% of the US$86.1 billion goods deficit.
From the goods gap to the current account
Quarterly, US$ billion. Invisibles include services, income and transfers.
How to read it. Add the goods balance to net receipts from services, income and transfers to get the current account. Those receipts can cover part or all of the goods deficit.
Loading chart…
The share of the goods gap paid by invisibles
Net invisibles as a percentage of the goods deficit; gaps when goods are not in deficit.
How to read it. At the reference line, net receipts from services, income and transfers cover the whole goods deficit. Below it, India still has a current-account gap to finance.
Loading chart…
India's current account ran a US$4.2 billion deficit in April to June 2026, the latest quarter in these RBI figures. It brings together goods, services, income and transfers. The accounts describe that quarter. They cannot tell us the balance in the current quarter.
What the numbers can't tell you
- The figures arrive at different times
- Quarterly current-account and debt figures can lag the reserve, trade and investor-flow data. Check each date: an older figure tells us less about India's position today.
- Goods are only part of trade
- Monthly goods trade leaves out services. The RBI's quarterly balance-of-payments accounts count goods differently and record them at different times, so the monthly balance cannot be substituted into those accounts.
- Invisibles are broader than services
- Services, income and transfers are combined here. These figures cannot separately tell us how much comes from software exports or money sent home by Indians abroad.
- Past figures can be revised
- These charts use the latest available revisions. Import cover allows for a publication delay before using an import figure, but the history cannot recreate the figures readers would have seen at the time.
The workings
The question
Data
Tables and downloads accompany calculated measures. RBI level series are shown as charts only. Bundles are listed in data status.