Merchandise trade deficit at US$ 83.4 billion in Q4:2025-26 was higher than US$ 59.3 billion in Q4:2024-25. Net services receipts increased to US$ 60.4 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 53.3 billion a year ago.
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 8 June 2026: Preliminary data on India's balance of payments (BoP) for the fourth quarter (Q4), i.e., January-March 2025-26, are presented in Statements I and II.
Key Features of India’s BoP in Q4:2025-26
India’s current account surplus stood at US$ 7.1 billion (0.7 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2025-26 as compared to US$ 13.7 billion (1.4 per cent of GDP) in Q4:2024-25 (Table 1).1,2
Merchandise trade deficit at US$ 83.4 billion in Q4:2025-26 was higher than US$ 59.3 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Net services receipts increased to US$ 60.4 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 53.3 billion a year ago.
Services exports have risen on a year-on-year basis in major categories such as computer services and other business services.
Net outgo on the primary income account, mainly reflecting payments of investment income, decreased to US$ 11.1 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 11.9 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Personal transfer receipts under secondary income account, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, rose to US$ 43.5 billion in Q4:2025-26 from US$ 33.9 billion in Q4:2024-25.
In the financial account, foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded a net inflow of US$ 4.2 billion in Q4:2025-26, higher than US$ 0.4 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Foreign portfolio investment (FPI) recorded a net outflow of US$ 12.0 billion in Q4:2025-26, higher than the outflow of US$ 5.9 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Non-resident deposits (NRI deposits) recorded a net inflow of US$ 3.3 billion in Q4:2025-26, higher than US$ 2.8 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Net inflows under external commercial borrowings (ECBs) to India amounted to US$ 3.6 billion in Q4:2025-26 as compared to US$ 7.5 billion in Q4:2024-25.
Foreign exchange reserves increased by US$ 7.2 billion (on a BoP basis) in Q4:2025-26 as compared to an accretion of US$ 8.8 billion in Q4:2024-25 (Table 1).
Key Features of India’s BoP During 2025-26
India’s current account deficit stood at US$ 25.2 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) in 2025-26 as compared to US$ 22.9 billion (0.6 per cent of GDP) during 2024-25 (Table 1).
Net invisibles receipts3 at US$ 312.0 billion were higher in 2025-26 than US$ 264.0 billion a year ago, primarily on account of net services receipts and net personal transfers.
Net FDI inflows increased to US$ 6.9 billion in 2025-26 from US$ 1.0 billion in 2024-25.
FPIs recorded net outflows of US$ 16.4 billion in 2025-26 as against net inflows of US$ 3.6 billion a year ago.
In 2025-26, foreign exchange reserves depleted by US$ 23.6 billion (on a BoP basis) as compared with a depletion of US$ 5.0 billion a year ago.
| Table 1: Major Items of India's Balance of Payments | ||||||||||||
| (US$ billion) | ||||||||||||
| January-March 2025 PR | January-March 2026 P | 2024-25 PR | 2025-26 P | |||||||||
| Credit | Debit | Net | Credit | Debit | Net | Credit | Debit | Net | Credit | Debit | Net | |
| A. Current Account | 265.1 | 251.4 | 13.7 | 280.5 | 273.4 | 7.1 | 1018.6 | 1041.6 | -22.9 | 1077.8 | 1103.0 | -25.2 |
| 1. Goods | 116.4 | 175.8 | -59.3 | 113.1 | 196.6 | -83.4 | 442.1 | 729.0 | -286.9 | 446.1 | 783.4 | -337.3 |
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| POL | 14.1 | 44.3 | -30.2 | 12.3 | 38.6 | -26.3 | 63.4 | 185.8 | -122.4 | 53.8 | 173.9 | -120.1 |
| 2. Services | 102.0 | 48.7 | 53.3 | 111.1 | 50.7 | 60.4 | 387.6 | 198.7 | 188.8 | 421.3 | 204.7 | 216.6 |
| 3. Primary Income | 11.9 | 23.8 | -11.9 | 12.0 | 23.2 | -11.1 | 53.4 | 101.7 | -48.3 | 55.0 | 103.2 | -48.2 |
| 4. Secondary Income | 34.7 | 3.2 | 31.5 | 44.3 | 3.0 | 41.3 | 135.6 | 12.1 | 123.5 | 155.3 | 11.7 | 143.6 |
| B. Capital Account and Financial Account | 255.9 | 270.3 | -14.4 | 477.9 | 486.3 | -8.4 | 1156.2 | 1134.7 | 21.5 | 1640.0 | 1614.6 | 25.4 |
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| 1. Direct Investment | 18.5 | 18.1 | 0.4 | 22.5 | 18.3 | 4.2 | 84.2 | 83.2 | 1.0 | 98.3 | 91.4 | 6.9 |
| 2. Portfolio Investment | 126.0 | 131.8 | -5.9 | 126.2 | 138.3 | -12.0 | 639.3 | 635.8 | 3.6 | 593.7 | 610.1 | -16.4 |
| 3. Other Investments | 106.3 | 98.9 | 7.4 | 320.4 | 304.1 | 16.2 | 370.4 | 336.0 | 34.3 | 885.3 | 849.6 | 35.7 |
| of which: | ||||||||||||
| NRI Deposits | 26.3 | 23.5 | 2.8 | 28.8 | 25.5 | 3.3 | 104.5 | 88.4 | 16.2 | 101.8 | 87.4 | 14.4 |
| ECBs to India | 15.8 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 6.4 | 3.6 | 48.0 | 29.5 | 18.5 | 35.7 | 21.5 | 14.2 |
| 4. Reserve Assets [Increase (-)/Decrease (+)] | 0.0 | 8.8 | -8.8 | 0.0 | 7.2 | -7.2 | 37.7 | 32.6 | 5.0 | 35.3 | 11.7 | 23.6 |
| C. Errors & Omissions (-) (A+B) | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | -0.1 |
| PR: Partially Revised; and P: Preliminary. | ||||||||||||
| Note: Total of sub-components may not tally with aggregate due to rounding off. | ||||||||||||
