Export-to-Import Ratio Improves to 16.7%: India Alone Accounts for 23.3%

Nepal’s external trade performance in FY 2025/26 showed a modest but notable improvement in its export strength relative to imports. The export-to-import ratio improved to 16.7 percent, up from just 9.5 percent in the previous year, signaling progress in reducing the trade gap. This growth was primarily driven by soaring shipments to India, where the ratio of exports to imports jumped to 23.3 percent, a sharp rise from 9.8 percent last year.

India’s role remains dominant, with over 81 percent of Nepal’s total exports and nearly 58 percent of its imports tied to the southern neighbor. The surge in electricity, agricultural, and manufactured exports to India has strengthened Nepal’s ability to finance part of its import bill, leading to an 8.6 percent reduction in the bilateral trade deficit. However, this improvement is largely India-centric, as Nepal’s export ratios with other partners remain weak.

With China, the export-to-import ratio fell drastically to just 0.2 percent, reflecting collapsing exports and growing imports, while with other countries it stood at 14.0 percent, slightly down from last year’s 17.2 percent. This underlines Nepal’s structural challenge—despite some progress, export competitiveness remains low outside of India.