India trade gap narrowed to USD 9.6 billion in February of 2019 from USD 12.3 billion a year earlier and below market expectations of USD 14.3 billion. It is the lowest trade deficit since September of 2017. Exports increased 2.4 percent year-on-year to USD 26.7 billion, mainly due to engineering goods (1.7 percent) and drugs and pharmaceuticals (16.1 percent). In contrast, imports declined 5.4 percent to USD 36.3 billion, mainly due to oil (-8.1 percent), electronic goods (-6.5 percent) and gold (-10.8 percent). From April to February, the country's trade gap increased to USD 165.52 billion from USD 148.55 billion a year earlier. Balance of Trade in India averaged -2553.58 USD Million from 1957 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 258.90 USD Million in March of 1977 and a record low of -20210.90 USD Million in October of 2012.
Balance of Trade in India is expected to be -15269.00 USD Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in India to stand at -12900.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the India Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -14100.00 USD Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.