India's Overall Exports Jump 29.9% in October; Agricultural Exports Rise 17.2%

• Rice Exports Rise 18% in October, Vegetable Oil Imports Surge 56%; Pulses and Fertiliser Imports Decline

India's overall exports of goods and services rose 29.90% year-on-year to an estimated $89.99 billion in October 2026, while imports increased 16.58% to $110.07 billion. Within merchandise trade, exports of agricultural and allied products covered in the latest government estimates grew 17.2% to $4.47 billion during the month. Agricultural imports across the five major categories listed in the estimates also increased 21.3% to $6.25 billion, reflecting higher overseas purchases of vegetable oil, cotton, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and fertilisers.

The overall trade performance remained strong during the first seven months of FY 2026-27. Between April and October, combined exports of merchandise and services increased 16.66% to $568.84 billion, against $487.59 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. Cumulative imports rose 16% to $662.19 billion from $570.84 billion.

Merchandise exports during April-October stood at $309.06 billion, registering growth of 21.96% over $253.40 billion in the year-ago period. Merchandise imports increased to $527.21 billion from $452.86 billion.

October: Agricultural export performance

Rice exports increased 18.39% to $1.04 billion in October 2026, compared with $876.02 million in the corresponding month last year. Marine product exports rose 13.76% to $1.02 billion, while meat, dairy and poultry exports registered a 34.87% increase to $788.26 million.

Other cereals recorded the highest growth among the major export categories, with shipments rising 87.47% to $44.14 million. Exports of cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items increased 37.40% to $342.79 million.

Coffee exports rose 8.51% to $138.42 million, while spice exports increased 9.11% to $345.62 million. Exports of fruits and vegetables registered marginal growth of 1.84% to $295.72 million. Tea exports also increased 23.04% to $96.57 million.

However, several traditional agricultural export categories faced declines. Tobacco exports fell 18.01% to $133.86 million, while cashew exports plunged 53.33% to $28.35 million. Oilseed exports declined 3.14% to $77.19 million. Oil meal exports, on the other hand, increased 85.55% to $118.40 million during the month.

October Agricultural imports

Imports of the five major agricultural and allied product categories covered in the estimates increased 21.3% to $6.25 billion in October 2026, against $5.16 billion in the corresponding month last year. Vegetable oil remained the largest category, with imports increasing 56.53% to $2.49 billion from $1.59 billion. Raw cotton and cotton waste imports surged 93.59% to $453.04 million, compared with $234.02 million a year earlier.

Imports of fruits and vegetables increased 34.08% to $487.09 million. Pulses imports, however, declined 22.64% to $387.35 million. Fertiliser imports, including crude and manufactured varieties, recorded a marginal decline of 1.24% to $2.44 billion, compared with $2.47 billion in October 2025.

April-October: Agricultural export growth at 7.7%

During April-October 2026, India's exports of the 13 agricultural and allied product categories increased 7.67% to $27.88 billion, compared with $25.90 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. This was considerably slower than the 21.96% growth in overall merchandise exports during the same period.

Rice continued to be the largest agricultural export category, with shipments rising 4.63% to $6.81 billion from $6.51 billion. Marine product exports increased 13.32% to $5.52 billion, while meat, dairy and poultry products recorded strong growth of 40.81% to $4.69 billion.

Other cereals registered exceptional growth of 109.74%, with exports reaching $321.24 million against $153.17 million. Exports of cereal preparations and miscellaneous processed items increased 11.19% to $2.11 billion.

April-October: Agricultural imports rise 22.4%

Imports of the five major agricultural and allied categories increased 22.42% to $32.14 billion during April-October 2026, against $26.26 billion in the corresponding period last year. Vegetable oil imports increased 17.74% to $13.64 billion, compared with $11.58 billion a year earlier, remaining the largest agricultural import category.

Fertiliser imports rose 22.55% to $12.48 billion from $10.19 billion. Imports of fruits and vegetables increased 30.52% to $2.67 billion, while pulses imports rose 17.35% to $1.80 billion. Raw cotton and cotton waste imports registered the sharpest increase, rising 70.87% to $1.56 billion from $910.73 million in April-October 2025.