Nepal’s foreign trade showed improvement in the fourth month of the current fiscal year. Exports increased by 4.16% to Rs 52.67 billion, while imports saw a modest rise of 0.17%, reaching Rs 513.38 billion compared to Rs 512.50 billion during the same period last year.
According to records from the Department of Customs (DoC), both exports and imports had experienced negative growth in the first three months, which ended in mid-October. However, between mid-October and mid-November, the country’s cross-border trade saw a recovery.
Despite the increase in exports, the trade deficit worsened due to a significant rise in imports. As of mid-October, Nepal faced a trade deficit of Rs 429.13 billion, a 3.96% decline. By mid-November, the deficit had increased to Rs 460.71 billion, showing a slight 0.26% growth compared to the same period last year.
Imports of electric vehicles (EVs) surged by 26% in the first four months of the current fiscal year. According to the DoC, Nepal spent Rs 10.53 billion on importing 4,217 EVs, generating Rs 5.72 billion in customs revenue. During the same period last year, 3,115 EVs worth Rs 7.70 billion were imported.
Additionally, the country imported 827,925 mobile phones valued at over Rs 13.40 billion. About 80% of these phones came from China, 15% from India, and the remaining 5% from countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Vietnam, Canada, and Australia.
