India’s exports surge 85 per cent in 12 years to $863 billion

India’s total exports of goods and services rose nearly 85 per cent in 12 years to $863 billion in 2025-26, driven by strong services growth, IT and GCC expansion. Merchandise exports also showed robust growth, reflecting sustained trade momentum

New Delhi: India’s total exports of both goods and services surged by close to 85 per cent from $468 billion in 2014-15 to $863 billion in 2025-26, according to data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry on Tuesday.

Total exports have recorded an annual growth of 5.7 per cent during the last 12 years, while the services sector has witnessed a remarkable increase of over 9 per cent in exports.

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Goods shipments shot up from $310 billion in 2014-15 to $442 billion in 2025-26, with a significant growth being registered in the export of engineering goods and electronic products in recent years. This reflects the growing manufacturing capacity in the country that has enabled the switch to high-value goods in the export basket.

Services exports jumped from $158.1 billion to $421.3 billion during this period. The share of the services sector in India’s total exports rose from 33.8 per cent in 2014-15 to 48.8 per cent in 2025-26, driven by the rapid expansion of the IT sector, growth in global capability centres (GCCs), and a post-pandemic shift towards digital delivery of services, the official statement said.

Over the last 12 years, the services exports have recorded robust growth since 2014-15, except in 2020-21 when they were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Software services, accounting for over 40 per cent of total services exports, remain the primary growth driver. Professional and management consulting emerged as the second-largest contributor.

The Commerce Ministry said that it has taken a string of measures to facilitate trade and push up the growth of exports. These include simplification of 47 processes, automated FTP (foreign trade policy) processes, auto-validated Importer Exporter Code issuance, and the launch of an export promotion mission.

Momentum has continued to accelerate into the current fiscal year, highlighted by strong manufacturing integration and resilient digital capabilities despite the uncertainties in global markets due to the West Asia crisis.

The country’s merchandise exports clocked a robust 18 per cent growth to $45.2 billion during May compared to the same month last year.

Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said this is “one of the highest monthly export growth prints”.

The May numbers come after India’s merchandise exports rose to $43.56 billion in April from $38.28 billion a year earlier, marking the second consecutive month of high growth. The country’s merchandise exports have increased to $88.91 billion during the two-month April-May period of the financial year 2026-27, which represents a 16.09 per cent growth over the corresponding period last year.