India revises gold and silver import figures: Trade deficit narrowed

The government revised gold and silver imports for April-November FY25, with the steepest downward revision of $5 billion in the former.

Data for November gold imports was revised to $9.84 billion, from the $14.86 billion announced last month, narrowing the trade deficit for the month to $32.8 billion, from the record $37.8 billion estimated earlier.

The high trade deficit had sparked concerns and contributed to the weakening of the rupee against the dollar.


According to the latest data by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), even after the downward revision, gold imports in November are up 186% from a year ago.

DGCIS also revised the gold import numbers since April 2024, revealing excess imports of about $11.7 billion in April-November FY25. The cumulative gold imports during the first eight months of FY25 are $37.38 billion, as against the earlier estimate of $49.08 billion.

Similarly, silver imports data for April-November were revised downwards to $2.33 billion, from $3.27 billion earlier.

Kolkata-based DGCIS comes under the commerce and industry ministry and is responsible for the collection, compilation and dissemination of India’s trade statistics and commercial information. There was no formal comment from the ministry on the revision till press time.

There was no revision in petroleum imports for November, at $12.4 billion. “Since the monthly numbers are less alarming, the sentimental impact and pressure on the rupee will be somewhat lower,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at Icra. The rupee has depreciated 2.2% in the last three months and was at 85.84 against the dollar on Wednesday. ET reported on December 20 that India’s import data since July may have to be recast as there may have been some double counting of gold imports. Transmission of data from the special economic zone (SEZ) portal to the Indian Customs Electronic Gateway (Icegate) may have led to calculation errors in the case of gold, officials had told ET.

Imports of the yellow metal in April-November stood at $44.1 billion, up 33.9% from the year earlier, rather than 49.1% higher in the previous estimate. Initial data released last month showed gold imports up 331% in November from the year earlier.

“The government has revised its gold import figures for the month of November sharply lower after reports of overstating. The total for January to November data has been corrected to 664 tonnes, from 796 tonnes,” said Vipul Shah, chairman of Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, adding that it is “well below the annual average of 800 tonnes.”

He said this was encouraging as reduced duty on gold had led to a substantial shift of imports from the grey market to official channels. Gold jewellery exports are expected to exceed $12 billion in 2025, showing robust growth amid uncertainty.

India imports gold from Switzerland, the UAE, Peru and certain African countries. Gold imports rose sharply after import duty was reduced on gold to 6% from 15% in July last year.

The sharp spike in imports had fuelled speculation of a potential increase in import tariff to 10%, from 6% in the upcoming budget. The India-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, effective May 1, 2022, may have contributed to the surge, as it allows unlimited duty-free imports of gold, silver, platinum and diamonds over the coming years. Most gold enters India as bars and rods with 99.99% purity, but traders are also using other tarifffree or concessional categories to bypass import duties.