Smartphones surpass petroleum and diamonds to become India’s top export in FY25

For the first time, smartphones have become India’s top export in FY25, overtaking traditional leaders like petroleum products and diamonds. The shift signals a major transformation driven by domestic manufacturing push and global demand for India-assembled mobile device

New Delhi: Smartphones have officially become India’s top exported good in FY25, overtaking traditional heavyweights like petroleum products and cut diamonds, as per latest government figures.

Backed by government support and strong local manufacturing by tech giants like Apple and Samsung, smartphone exports rose 55 per cent to $24.14 billion in 2024-25, compared to $15.57 billion in the previous fiscal and $10.96 billion in 2022-23.

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According to the data, the United States and Japan saw the biggest jump in shipments over the last three years.

Exports to the US grew nearly five times — from $2.16 billion in FY23 to $10.6 billion in FY25.

Similarly, shipments to Japan shot up fourfold, from just $120 million to $520 million during the same period.

This sharp rise is largely attributed to the government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which has helped attract global investments, scale up domestic manufacturing, and integrate Indian production into global value chains.

As per Counterpoint Research’s report, Apple and Samsung together accounted for a massive 94 per cent of India’s smartphone exports in 2024.

Their continued investment in local manufacturing played a key role in making smartphones the country’s top export item.

Made-in-India smartphone shipments grew 6 per cent year-on-year in 2024, the report added.

In FY25, India saw a boom in premium smartphone demand, especially for Apple.

According to an IDC report on Monday, Apple clocked the highest growth among all brands in the January-March 2025 quarter, shipping a record 3 million iPhones.

The iPhone 16 alone was the top-shipped model, accounting for 4 per cent of all smartphone sales in the quarter.

India’s smartphone market is also shifting toward more expensive models. The average selling price (ASP) hit a record $274 in Q1 2025, while the premium segment ($600–$800) grew nearly 79 per cent.

Apple’s iPhone 13 and 16 dominated this space, pushing its market share even further.