Nepal's Foreign Trade Volume Rises in First Seven Months of Fiscal Year 2082/83

Kathmandu. The volume of Nepal's foreign trade has increased in the first seven months (Shrawan-Magh) of the current fiscal year 2082/83. According to data released by the Department of Customs, both imports and exports have shown improvement compared to the same period last fiscal year.

According to the department, the total foreign trade reached approximately 1.3 trillion rupees (1 trillion 291 billion 630 million) by the end of Magh in the current fiscal year. This is a 15.76 percent increase compared to the same period last year, when the total trade stood at 1 trillion 115 billion rupees.

Nepal's export trade has shown significant improvement during the seven-month period of the current fiscal year. According to the department's data, goods worth 168 billion 140 million rupees were exported during the review period. This is 32.19 percent higher than the same period last fiscal year, when exports were only 127 billion 200 million rupees by the end of Magh.

Status of Imports and Trade Deficit

Along with exports, the volume of imports has also increased. In seven months, goods worth 1 trillion 123 billion 480 million rupees were imported, which is 13.65 percent higher than last year. 

Despite the increase in exports, the trade deficit has widened due to the high volume of imports. 

By Magh, the country's trade deficit reached 955 billion 340 million rupees. In the same period last year, the trade deficit was 861 billion rupees. This indicates that the trade deficit has increased by 10.91 percent.

Improvement in Import-Export Ratio

As the growth rate of exports is higher than that of imports, the import-export ratio has shown improvement. Last year, for every 1 rupee Nepal exported, it imported 7.77 rupees worth of goods. However, this year that ratio has decreased to 6.68.

The share of exports in total foreign trade has also increased. The share of exports, which was 11.40 percent last year, has increased to 13.02 percent in the current fiscal year. Conversely, the share of imports has decreased from 88.60 percent to 86.98 percent.