There has been a 60 percent decline in gold imports in the month of November.
No one had any idea that such gold import figures would be revealed in the month of November. After record imports in October, there has been a decline of 60 percent in gold imports in the month of November. The special thing is that due to this decrease in imports, there has been a significant reduction in the trade deficit of the country. The country's trade deficit has reached its lowest level in 5 months in the month of November. According to experts, there has been a decline in imports due to the continuously increasing prices of gold. On the other hand, there has been an increase of more than 125 percent in the import of silver. Let us also tell you what kind of figures have been released by the government.
According to Commerce Ministry data, after almost three-fold increase in the country's gold imports in October, it declined by almost 60 percent to US $ 4 billion in November. In November 2024, gold import was seen at US$ 9.8 billion. Overall, during April-November of the current financial year, imports have increased by 3.3 percent to US $ 45.26 billion from US $ 43.8 billion last year. The country's gold imports increased almost three times on an annual basis and reached a record high of US $ 14.72 billion in October.
The decline in gold imports has helped reduce the country's trade deficit (the difference between imports and exports) which fell to a five-month low of US $ 24.53 billion in November. On Monday, the price of gold in the capital exceeded Rs 1.35 lakh for 10 grams. Commenting on the figures, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Aggarwal said that the country's import bill has reduced due to the decline in imports. On the other hand, America has also seen an increase in exports in the month of November. In the month of November, exports have also broken the record of the last 10 years.
Switzerland is the largest source of gold imports with about 40 per cent share, followed by the United Arab Emirates (over 16 per cent) and South Africa (about 10 per cent). The share of this precious metal in the total imports of the country is more than 5 percent. In November, imports from Switzerland declined by 82.54 percent to US $ 837.7 million. In April-November of this financial year, imports had declined by 13.32 percent to US $ 16.22 billion. After China, India is the second largest consumer of gold in the world. Imports mainly meet the demand of the jewelery industry.
Due to growth in services exports, India's current account deficit (CAD) declined to 0.2 per cent of GDP or US$ 2.4 billion in the period April-June 2025-26 from 0.9 per cent of GDP or US$ 8.6 billion in the same period last year. Current account deficit (CAD) arises when the value of imported goods and services and other payments by a country exceeds the value of exported goods and services and other receipts in a given period. In November 2025, silver import increased by 125.40 percent to US $ 1.07 billion. Silver has industrial applications. It is used in sectors like electronics, automobile and pharma.
