Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The country’s foreign trade volume reached Rs 2,411.66 billion in fiscal year 2025/26, up 15.88% from Rs 2,081.15 billion in the previous fiscal year.
According to the latest data released by the Department of Customs, the country’s trade deficit also increased alongside overall foreign trade.
The trade deficit rose 16.63% year-on-year to Rs 1,781.08 billion in the last fiscal year, compared with Rs 1,527.09 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Imports in the previous fiscal year increased 16.20% to Rs 2,096.37 billion from Rs 1.804.12 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Likewise, exports increased by 13.81% to Rs 315.29 billion in the last fiscal year from Rs 277.03 billion in 2024/25.
Imports accounted for 86.93% of the total foreign trade in 2025/26, slightly up from 86.69% in the previous fiscal year. The share of exports in total foreign trade declined from 13.31% in 2024/25 to 13.07% in 2025/26.
Diesel was the largest imported commodity in 2025/26, with total imports hitting Rs 172.42 billion. Crude soybean oil ranked second. Oil refineries imported crude soybean oil worth Rs 132.76 billion in the last fiscal year.
Similarly, Nepal imported petrol worth Rs 77.26 billion, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) worth Rs 60.28 billion, semi-processed iron used in the iron and steel industry worth Rs 58.52 billion, and smartphones worth Rs 48.69 billion in 2025/26.
Soybean oil was the country’s largest export in the last fiscal year. Customs data show Nepal exported soybean oil worth Rs 128.74 billion in 2025/26. Black cardamom was next with total exports worth Rs 12.64 billion, followed by woolen carpets (Rs 10.38 billion), sunflower oil (Rs 8.94 billion) and jute (Rs 7.14 billion).
Nepal imported goods worth Rs 1,210.60 billion from India alone in the last fiscal year, while exports to the southern neighbor amounted to Rs 258.65 billion. As a result, Nepal’s trade deficit with India alone stood at more than Rs 951.95 billion.
Similarly, Nepal imported goods worth Rs 425.24 billion from China but exported goods worth only Rs 1.89 billion. This resulted in a trade deficit of Rs 423.35 billion with China.
