India's crop trade
What India sells to the world and what it buys, with 20-year trends.
In 2024 India exported about $44.0 billion and imported about $37.8 billion of agricultural products, a surplus of $6.2 billion. Top export: Rice (all forms). Top import: Palm oil.
Exports and imports over time
Top exports
| # | Product | Value | Tonnes | Share | vs 5 yrs ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rice (all forms) | $11.6 billion | 1,78,77,117 | 26.5% | +71% |
| 2 | Meat of buffalo, fresh or chilled | $3.6 billion | 11,20,337 | 8.2% | +16% |
| 3 | Crude organic material n.e.c. | $1.9 billion | - | 4.3% | +40% |
| 4 | Refined sugar | $1.7 billion | 27,51,904 | 3.8% | +33% |
| 5 | Unmanufactured tobacco | $1.4 billion | 3,08,712 | 3.1% | +148% |
| 6 | Chillies and peppers, dry (Capsicum spp., Pimenta spp.), raw | $1.3 billion | 5,37,599 | 3.0% | +53% |
| 7 | Coffee, green | $1.1 billion | 2,54,486 | 2.5% | +121% |
| 8 | Oil of castor beans | $1.0 billion | 7,01,614 | 2.4% | +22% |
| 9 | Food preparations n.e.c. | $1.0 billion | 3,33,296 | 2.3% | +110% |
| 10 | Cake of soya beans | $964 million | 18,66,761 | 2.2% | +29% |
| 11 | Anise, badian, coriander, cumin, caraway, fennel and juniper berries, raw | $955 million | 3,77,393 | 2.2% | +70% |
| 12 | Cotton lint, ginned | $904 million | 4,65,001 | 2.1% | -16% |
| 13 | Essential oils n.e.c. | $898 million | 39,533 | 2.0% | -26% |
| 14 | Groundnuts, shelled | $822 million | 7,29,098 | 1.9% | +36% |
| 15 | Tea leaves | $804 million | 2,49,986 | 1.8% | -1% |
Top imports
| # | Product | Value | Tonnes | Share | vs 5 yrs ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palm oil | $8.5 billion | 86,20,365 | 22.6% | +58% |
| 2 | Soya bean oil | $4.1 billion | 41,47,673 | 10.9% | +82% |
| 3 | Sunflower-seed oil, crude | $3.6 billion | 37,40,481 | 9.6% | +103% |
| 4 | Raw cane or beet sugar (centrifugal only) | $1.7 billion | 31,89,388 | 4.4% | +457% |
| 5 | Cashew nuts, in shell | $1.6 billion | 11,98,895 | 4.2% | +45% |
| 6 | Peas, dry | $1.4 billion | 29,48,124 | 3.6% | +415% |
| 7 | Pigeon peas, dry | $1.3 billion | 12,57,366 | 3.5% | +331% |
| 8 | Beans, dry | $1.1 billion | 9,76,596 | 2.8% | +181% |
| 9 | Natural rubber in other forms | $1.0 billion | 5,70,083 | 2.7% | +42% |
| 10 | Almonds, in shell | $1.0 billion | 2,69,522 | 2.7% | +25% |
| 11 | Cotton lint, ginned | $989 million | 4,51,426 | 2.6% | -25% |
| 12 | Lentils, dry | $811 million | 10,60,260 | 2.1% | +134% |
| 13 | Industrial monocarboxylic fatty acids; acid oils from refining | $646 million | 6,41,469 | 1.7% | +42% |
| 14 | Undenatured ethyl alcohol of an alcoholic strength by volume of less than 80% vol; spirits, liqueurs and other spirituous beverages | $562 million | 91,986 | 1.5% | +60% |
| 15 | Crude organic material n.e.c. | $473 million | - | 1.3% | +58% |
Want production figures for these crops? See India crop statistics.
Source: FAO, FAOSTAT trade of crops and livestock products (CC BY 4.0). Values are in current US dollars and cover the products FAO lists, including processed items. Totals can differ from Indian commerce ministry figures.