India’s merchandise exports jumped 45.1% from a year earlier to a record $49.47 billion in October 2026, the fastest monthly growth in five years. The surge was especially welcome amid geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions in the Middle East. Five sectors accounted for about 83% of the increase, while a rebound in labour-intensive exports broadened the gains. Over April–October, merchandise exports rose 22% to $309.06 billion.

The Five Key Sectors
Engineering goods, petroleum products, electronic goods, gems and jewellery, and organic and inorganic chemicals accounted for about 83% of October’s export growth. Their combined exports rose 59.4% to $34.37 billion from $21.56 billion a year earlier, making up nearly 70% of India’s merchandise exports that month. Over April–October, exports from the five sectors rose 30% to $209.86 billion from $161.38 billion.

Engineering goods remained the largest category, rising 36% to $12.74 billion in October and reaching $83.61 billion over the seven months. Petroleum products posted the biggest increase, rising 140.2% to $8.89 billion and reaching $49.84 billion over April–October. Electronic goods rose 62.7% to $6.64 billion in October, with seven-month exports of $38.61 billion. Gems and jewellery rose 40.1% to $3.21 billion in October and reached $18.50 billion over the seven months, while chemicals rose 36.2% to $2.89 billion in October and reached $19.31 billion over the period.

Higher Input Prices
Most of the five leading sectors rely heavily on imported inputs. Higher global commodity and input prices likely helped lift dollar export values, particularly for petroleum products. October import values rose 57% for petroleum products, 50% for electronic components, 63.6% for rough diamonds and 36.2% for organic and inorganic chemicals. Pre-holiday restocking in Western markets may also have boosted demand for consumer electronics, gems and jewelry ahead of Christmas.

A welcome development was the rebound across six labour-intensive categories, which are important sources of jobs. Their combined exports rose 28.3% in October to $9.07 billion from $7.07 billion. Over April–October, they rose 9.4% to $54.77 billion.

Alongside the 40.1% increase in gems and jewellery, textiles and garments rose 26.3% to $3.37 billion, the highest October export value among the six categories. Textile and garment exports rose 5.5% to $21.52 billion over April–October. Marine products rose 13.8% to $1.02 billion in October and 13.3% to $5.52 billion over the seven months. Meat, dairy and poultry products rose 34.9% to $788.26 million in October and 40.8% to $4.69 billion over April–October.

Leather and leather products rose 12.7% to $354.46 million in October, while ceramic products and glassware rose 4.9% to $328.30 million. Both categories remained below year-earlier levels over April–October. Leather exports fell 1.1% to $2.57 billion, and ceramics and glassware fell 17.3% to $1.97 billion.

Shipment volumes and unit prices will help show how much of the overall surge came from India selling more goods abroad and how much came from higher prices.

India’s exports to the US rose 48% in October 2026 from a year earlier, while shipments to Singapore jumped 169%. The product-level data, expected in about a month, will show which goods drove the surge in each market and how concentrated the gains were.