New Delhi: India's global trade in services and goods has risen phenomenally in the last five years to constitute over 54 per cent of its gross domestic product, reflecting a greater integration with the world economy.
In 2003-04, the country's exports and imports in both
services and merchandise in relation to its GDP was only 30.9
per cent. These have now crossed well over half the size of
the Indian economy, according to the official data released
here on Tuesday.
"India's greater integration with the world economy is
reflected in the trade openness indicator," a Finance Ministry
paper on the state of the economy said.
The merchandise trade as a percentage of India's GDP
increased from 23.7 per cent in 2003-04 to 41 per cent in
2008-09. "If the services trade is included, the indicator is
higher at 54.2 per cent in 2008-09, reflecting greater degree
of openness," the paper said.
"In the last 4-5 years our exports and imports are
growing phenomenally...increasing external trade reflects
India's greater openness. However, the ongoing global economic
crisis has briefly interrupted the integration of India with
the world economy," CRISIL's Principal Economist D K Joshi
said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 03, 2009, 21:23