That dollar amount reflects a 33.6% increase compared to $323.3 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the total value of goods exported from India fell by -4.6% from $452.7 billion starting in 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023 on a Purchasing Power Parity basis, the Indian rupee dropped by -20.8% against the US dollar since 2019 and depreciated by -5.1% from 2022 to 2023. India’s weaker local currency makes Indian exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
India ranks among world-leading countries exporting diamonds, jewelry and refined petroleum.
India’s Best International Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 53.4% of products exported from India was bought by importers in: United States of America (17.6% of the Indian total), United Arab Emirates (7.6%), Netherlands (5.4%), mainland China (3.8%), United Kingdom (3.1%), Singapore (2.8%), Bangladesh (2.6%), Saudi Arabia (2.5%), Germany (2.2%), Hong Kong (2.02%), Italy (1.95%) and South Africa (1.9%).
From a continental perspective, 41.5% of India’s exports by value was delivered to fellow Asian countries while 22.5% were sold to importers in Europe. India shipped another 19.8% worth of goods to North American buyers.
Smaller percentages went to customers in Africa (10.9%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (3.5%), then Oceania (2%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Given India’s population of 1.429 billion people, its total $432 billion in 2023 exported products translates to roughly $300 for every resident in the vast South Asian country. That dollar metric represents an increase from an average $250 per capita in 2022.
India’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Indian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from India.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$89.7 billion (20.8% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $33.4 billion (7.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $32.4 billion (7.5%)
- Machinery including computers: $29.3 billion (6.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $21.3 billion (4.9%)
- Vehicles: $20.8 billion (4.8%)
- Organic chemicals: $19.4 billion (4.5%)
- Iron, steel: $11.8 billion (2.7%)
- Cereals: $11.3 billion (2.6%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $9.7 billion (2.3%)
India’s top 10 export categories approached two-thirds (64.6%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Electrical machinery and equipment represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 21.8% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales were pharmaceuticals via a 7.8% advance.
India’s shipments of machinery including computers posted the only other gain in value, up by 6.7% compared to 2022.
The severest decliners among India’s top 10 export categories were iron and steel (down -22.2% from 2022), cereals (down -19.9%), gems and precious metals (down -14.9%) then organic chemicals (down -11.2%).
Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
For a more granular view of exported goods at the four-digit HTS code level, see the section Searchable List of India’s Most Valuable Export Products further down near the bottom of this article.
Products Generating India’s Greatest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Indian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$18.7 billion (Up by 9.8% since 2022)
- Vehicles: $13.1 billion (Down by -8.2%)
- Cereals: $11.1 billion (Down by -20.2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $7 billion (Down by -8%)
- Fish: $6.1 billion (Down by -6.7%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $6 billion (Down by -19%)
- Cotton: $5.7 billion (Up by 9.4%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $4.7 billion (Down by -12.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $4.7 billion (Down by -6.3%)
- Meat: $3.6 billion (Up by 12.1%)
India has highly positive net exports in the international trade of drugs and medicines. In turn, these cashflows indicate India’s strong competitive advantages under the pharmaceuticals-related product category.
Products Causing India’s Biggest Trade Deficits
India incurred an overall -US$235.2 billion trade deficit for all products during 2023, shrinking by -16% from -$279.9 billion in red ink one year earlier for 2022.
Below are exports from India that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country India’s goods trail Indian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$130.9 billion (Down by -26.8% since 2022)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$43.7 billion (Up by 1.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: -$39.2 billion (Up by 0.7%)
- Machinery including computers: -$27.7 billion (Up by 1.6%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$15.5 billion (Up by 6.9%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$14.6 billion (Down by -26%)
- Fertilizers: -$10.3 billion (Down by -39.9%)
- Organic chemicals: -$7.8 billion (Down by -1.1%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$7.6 billion (Up by 12.1%)
- Iron, steel: -$7.1 billion (Up by 358.9%)
India has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for mineral fuels including oil, notably crude oil, coal and petroleum gases.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate India’s competitive disadvantages in the international mineral fuels-related market, but also represent key opportunities for India to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations for pertinent goods.
India’s Major Export Companies
India places over 50 corporations on the Forbes Global 2000 rankings. Many of these are major Indian export companies. Below is a selection of some of the biggest Indian corporations.
- Reliance Industries (oil, gas)
- Tata Motors (cars, trucks)
- Indian Oil (oil, gas)
- Coal India (diversified metals, mining)
- ITC (tobacco)
- Bharat Heavy Electricals (electrical equipment)
- Hindalco Industries (aluminum)
- Tata Steel (iron, steel)
- Bharat Petroleum (oil, gas)
- Hindustan Petroleum (oil, gas)
- Sun Pharma Industries (pharmaceuticals)
- Steel Authority of India (iron, steel)
- Bajaj Auto (recreational products)
- Hero Motocorp (recreational products)
- Grasim Industries (construction materials)
- JSW Steel (iron, steel)
Searchable List of India’s Most Valuable Export Products
At the more granular four-digit HTS code level, the following searchable table displays 100 of the most in-demand goods shipped from India during 2023. Shown beside each product label is its total export value then the percentage increase or decrease since 2022.
| Rank | Indian Export Product | Value (US$) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Processed petroleum oils | $85,317,037,000 | -9.6% |
| 2 | Medication mixes in dosage | $18,821,810,000 | +7.9% |
| 3 | Diamonds (unmounted/unset) | $18,150,337,000 | -24.1% |
| 4 | Phone devices including smartphones | $15,646,937,000 | +43.1% |
| 5 | Jewelry | $12,701,400,000 | +3.2% |
| 6 | Rice | $10,462,013,000 | -2.8% |
| 7 | Automobile parts/accessories | $7,042,777,000 | +5.7% |
| 8 | Cars | $6,724,692,000 | +2.1% |
| 9 | Aluminum (unwrought) | $4,760,544,000 | -32.8% |
| 10 | Crustaceans (including lobsters) | $4,442,827,000 | -9.5% |
| 11 | Packaged insecticides/fungicides/herbicides | $4,324,619,000 | -22.1% |
| 12 | Turbo-jets | $4,063,955,000 | +21.8% |
| 13 | Heterocyclics, nucleic acids | $3,992,697,000 | -0.1% |
| 14 | Sugar (cane or beet) | $3,720,004,000 | -35.2% |
| 15 | Iron ores, concentrates | $3,603,685,000 | +129% |
| 16 | Yarn (85%+ cotton) | $3,499,342,000 | +13.5% |
| 17 | Frozen beef | $3,185,719,000 | +11.4% |
| 18 | Iron ferroalloys | $3,037,898,000 | -14.7% |
| 19 | Women's clothing (not knit or crochet) | $2,878,876,000 | -7% |
| 20 | Electrical converters/power units | $2,854,357,000 | +6.5% |
| 21 | Rubber tires (new) | $2,661,032,000 | -10.9% |
| 22 | Motorcycles | $2,616,707,000 | -10.6% |
| 23 | Unglazed ceramic flags, tiles, cubes | $2,438,335,000 | +32% |
| 24 | Taps, valves, similar appliances | $2,119,414,000 | +16.6% |
| 25 | Synthetic organic coloring | $2,093,597,000 | -22.7% |
| 26 | T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet) | $2,092,401,000 | -17.6% |
| 27 | Insulated wire/cable | $2,008,583,000 | +17% |
| 28 | Hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products | $1,998,881,000 | -24.2% |
| 29 | Transmission shafts, gears, clutches | $1,979,680,000 | +7.5% |
| 30 | Solar power diodes/semi-conductors | $1,925,619,000 | +192.7% |
| 31 | Light vessels, fire boats, floating docks | $1,912,691,000 | +0.3% |
| 32 | Cyclic hydrocarbons | $1,861,174,000 | -43.3% |
| 33 | Miscellaneous furnishings | $1,848,225,000 | -1.4% |
| 34 | Footwear (leather) | $1,836,127,000 | -16.2% |
| 35 | Linens | $1,794,231,000 | -12% |
| 36 | Miscellaneous iron and steel structures | $1,735,402,000 | +3.6% |
| 37 | Coal tar oils (high temperature distillation) | $1,706,163,000 | -15.7% |
| 38 | Blood fractions (including antisera) | $1,676,391,000 | +14.7% |
| 39 | Trucks | $1,623,829,000 | -8.3% |
| 40 | Piston engine parts | $1,574,786,000 | +4.3% |
| 41 | Cases, handbags, wallets | $1,537,582,000 | -8.9% |
| 42 | Synthetic precious stones | $1,517,316,000 | -19.2% |
| 43 | Aircraft or spacecraft parts | $1,513,297,000 | +58.8% |
| 44 | Electrical energy | $1,492,922,000 | +130.5% |
| 45 | Pepper (dried/crushed/ground) | $1,415,992,000 | +20.5% |
| 46 | Air or vacuum pumps | $1,396,946,000 | +4.1% |
| 47 | Electro-medical equip (e.g. xrays) | $1,387,851,000 | +12.6% |
| 48 | Other organic compounds | $1,346,394,000 | -3.3% |
| 49 | Flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products (plated/coated) | $1,334,682,000 | +42.8% |
| 50 | Liquid pumps and elevators | $1,321,206,000 | +3.2% |
| 51 | Engines (diesel) | $1,303,483,000 | -7.5% |
| 52 | Machinery parts | $1,299,344,000 | +8.7% |
| 53 | Miscellaneous iron or steel items | $1,283,120,000 | -2% |
| 54 | Miscellaneous cast iron or steel items | $1,240,505,000 | -11.3% |
| 55 | Woven cotton fabrics | $1,236,906,000 | -7.8% |
| 56 | Plastic plates, sheets, film, tape, strips | $1,169,757,000 | -13.3% |
| 57 | Heavy machinery (bulldozers, excavators, road rollers) | $1,169,067,000 | +18.3% |
| 58 | Monument/building stones, art | $1,161,551,000 | -10.9% |
| 59 | Stainless steel bars, rods | $1,159,787,000 | +5% |
| 60 | Electric motor parts | $1,144,700,000 | -4.6% |
| 61 | Miscellaneous furniture | $1,130,368,000 | -11.5% |
| 62 | Fixed vegetable fats/oils | $1,125,061,000 | -6.7% |
| 63 | Cruise/cargo ships, barges | $1,121,352,000 | +25% |
| 64 | Soya-bean oil-cake, other solid residues | $1,115,152,000 | +94.2% |
| 65 | Tractors | $1,108,331,000 | -29% |
| 66 | Lower-voltage switches, fuses | $1,098,935,000 | +4.5% |
| 67 | Miscellaneous machinery | $1,091,040,000 | +5.6% |
| 68 | Men's shirts (not knit or crochet) | $1,045,929,000 | -0.2% |
| 69 | Women's shirts (not knit or crochet) | $1,011,247,000 | -7.3% |
| 70 | Plastic packing goods, lids, caps | $1,009,707,000 | -8.1% |
| 71 | Men's suits, trousers (not knit or crochet) | $1,008,922,000 | -9.9% |
| 72 | Antibiotics | $1,006,205,000 | +8.3% |
| 73 | Packing sacks, bags | $974,229,000 | -17.2% |
| 74 | Electric circuit parts, fuses, switches | $972,240,000 | +2.8% |
| 75 | Unmanufactured tobacco, tobacco waste | $967,558,000 | +18.6% |
| 76 | Amino-compounds (oxygen) | $947,047,000 | +0.8% |
| 77 | Motorcycle parts/accessories | $927,456,000 | -4.7% |
| 78 | Centrifuges, filters and purifiers | $924,520,000 | -0.6% |
| 79 | Iron or steel pipe fittings | $913,626,000 | -8.8% |
| 80 | Essential oils | $908,542,000 | -7.8% |
| 81 | Tracksuits, swimwear (not knit or crochet) | $901,420,000 | -10.8% |
| 82 | Synthetic yarn woven fabrics | $900,698,000 | -2.1% |
| 83 | Temperature-change machines | $894,832,000 | -6% |
| 84 | Copper wire | $890,604,000 | +412.2% |
| 85 | Infant clothing (knit or crochet) | $888,376,000 | -17.6% |
| 86 | Unroasted ground-nuts | $874,567,000 | +22.9% |
| 87 | Vegetable saps, extracts | $859,261,000 | -10% |
| 88 | Aluminum oxide/hydroxide | $846,092,000 | +8.5% |
| 89 | Zinc (unwrought) | $820,330,000 | -37.3% |
| 90 | Coriander, cumin or caraway seeds, juniper berries | $812,364,000 | +33.3% |
| 91 | Sort/screen/washing machinery | $808,070,000 | +1.8% |
| 92 | Iron and steel screws, bolts, nuts, washers | $801,599,000 | -3.8% |
| 93 | Amine-function compounds | $796,502,000 | -2.2% |
| 94 | Warships, lifeboats | $793,147,000 | +157.1% |
| 95 | Synthetic filament yarn | $788,192,000 | -23.6% |
| 96 | Ball, roller bearings | $784,041,000 | -7.2% |
| 97 | Miscellaneous plastic items | $781,233,000 | -3.6% |
| 98 | Iron and steel tubes, pipes | $770,128,000 | +87.5% |
| 99 | Beauty/makeup/skin care preparations | $767,895,000 | +148.6% |
| 100 | Moluscs | $763,352,000 | -11.1% |
These 100 exported goods were worth a subtotal of US$321.2 billion or nearly three-quarters (74.3%) by value for all products exported from India during 2023.
In macroeconomic terms, India’s total exported goods amount to 3.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($13.342 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 3.2% for exports to overall GDP per PPP in 2023 compares to 3% in 2022. Those percentages suggest India’s relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for its total economic performance, albeit based on a short timespan.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. India’s unemployment rate was 7.64% at March 2024, down from 8.43% for April 2023 according to Trading Economics.
See also India’s Top 10 Imports, India’s Top Trading Partners, Top Indian Trade Balances and India’s Top 10 Major Export Companies
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on June 20, 2024.
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 20, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (National Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 20, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 20, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 20, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 20, 2024
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Purchasing power parities (PPP). Accessed on June 20, 2024
Richest Country Reports, Key Statistics Powering Global Wealth. Accessed on June 20, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of India. Accessed on June 20, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 20, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 20, 2024