Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal’s foreign trade increased by 13.3% to reach Rs. 1,115.79 billion over the first seven months of the current fiscal year 2024/25.
According to foreign trade data released by the Department of Customs on Friday, imports grew by 10.09%, amounting to Rs. 988.58 billion, while exports surged by 46.50%, reaching Rs. 127.20 billion.
The trade deficit, however, widened by 6.20% to Rs. 861.38 billion, reflecting a continued reliance on imported goods.
Despite this, the exports-to-imports ratio improved significantly, dropping from 10.34 to 7.77, a decline of 24.85%.
Exports now account for 11.40% of total trade, up from 8.82% in the previous year. Conversely, the share of imports in total trade decreased slightly by 2.83%, standing at 88.60%.
Diesel was the country’s largest import in the review period. Over the first seven months of 2024/25, Nepal imported 739147 kiloliters of diesel worth Rs 66.48 billion. Next were crude soybean oil, petrol (Rs 37.64 billion), liquefied petroleum gas (Rs 35.47 billion) and ferrous products/iron ore (Rs 29.95 billion)
Similarly, soybean oil was the country’s largest export commodity in the review period. Data shows Nepal exported 158,138 tons of soyabean oil worth Rs 32.41 billion in the first seven months of 2024/25. Next were sunflower oil (Rs 6.57 billion), hand-knotted carpet Rs 6.46 billion), big cardamom (Rs 5.39 billion) and tea (Rs 3.18 billion).
