Trade deficit widens by 6.45% to Rs 1,121.33 billion

KATHMANDU: Although exports went up by 65.16% , Nepal’s trade deficit expanded by 6.45% to Rs 1,121.33 billion over the first nine months of fiscal year 2024/25. Such a deficit was Rs 1,053.42 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Foreign trade data of the first nine months of 2024/25 shows Nepal’s total foreign trade expanded by 6.45%, reaching Rs 1,497.72 billion over the first nine months of the fiscal year 2024/25.

According to the foreign trade release by the Department of Customs on Sunday, exports grew by a whopping 65.16% to Rs 188.19 billion in the review period of the current fiscal year compared to Rs 113.94 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Exports accounted for only 12.57% of Nepal’s total foreign trade in the review period, up from 8.89% in the same period of the previous fiscal year. The share of imports to total foreign trade, however, fell from 91.11% to 87.43%.

Imports, on the other hand, went up by 12.18% to Rs 1,309.53 billion in the nine-month period of the current fiscal year, up from Rs 1,167.36 billion last year.

Top 5 Imports

1. Diesel
2. Crude soya-bean oil
3. Petrol
4. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
5. Ferrous products obtained by direct reduction of iron ore, in lumps, pellets or s

Top 5 Exports

1. Sobean oil (excl. crude) and fractions
2. Sunflower-seed and safflower oil (excl. crude) and fractions thereof
3. Big Cardamon (Alaichi) neither crushed nor ground
4. Carpets and other textile floor coverings, of wool or fine animal hair, knotted.
5. Rolled iron/steel