Nepal's Foreign Trade Hits 1.71 Trillion Rupees in First Nine Months of 2082/83

Kathmandu. Nepal's total foreign trade reached 1.713 trillion 430 million rupees in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2082/83. According to the Department of Customs, this figure reflects growth in both imports and exports during the review period.

During this period, Nepal imported goods worth 1.490 trillion 490 million rupees, an increase of 13.82 percent compared to the previous year. In the same period last year, imports stood at 1.309 trillion 530 million rupees.

Similarly, exports saw an encouraging growth of 18.46 percent. Exports rose to 222 billion 930 million rupees this year, up from 188 billion 190 million rupees in the same period last year.

Despite improvements in exports, the trade deficit continues to widen due to the large volume of imports. In the nine-month period, Nepal's trade deficit increased by 13.04 percent to 1.267 trillion 560 million rupees. The trade deficit was 1.121 trillion 330 million rupees during the same period last year.

According to the data, there has been a slight improvement in the share of exports in total trade. The share of exports in total foreign trade increased from 12.57 percent last year to 13.01 percent this year. Meanwhile, the share of imports decreased slightly from 87.43 percent to 86.99 percent.

The rising rate of imports and the growth in export volume have put pressure on the trade deficit. The trade deficit had increased by 11.22 percent by the end of Falgun, reaching 13.04 percent by the end of Chaitra. The total trade deficit for this period reached 1.267 trillion 560 million rupees.

Despite the pressure of imports, the share of exports in total trade is gradually increasing. The share of exports in total trade was 12.91 percent in Falgun, which slightly increased to 13.01 percent in Chaitra.

Similarly, there has been a gradual improvement in the import-export ratio. In Falgun, for every 1 rupee of exports, 6.75 rupees of imports were recorded, which decreased to 6.69 in Chaitra. This indicates that although the volume of imports is large, exports are gradually strengthening their presence.