Exports show strong performance, rising 62% in two months

Kathmandu / Sept. 25: Nepal’s export trade witnessed significant growth in the first two months of the current fiscal year 2026/27.

According to trade statistics released by the Department of Customs, goods worth Rs. 76.58 billion were exported during the first two months (from mid-July to mid-September 2026) of the current fiscal year.

This represents a 61.86 per cent increase compared to exports during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.

Goods worth Rs. 47.31 billion were exported during the first two months of FY 2025/26.

The growth of export witnessed in the beginning of the current fiscal year indicated a healthy overall expansion of export.

Exports surged by an impressive 61.72 per cent in the first month of the fiscal year, followed by 61.86 per cent growth during the first two months.

During the review period, the increase in exports of soybean oil, palm oil, sunflower oil, carpets, tea and coffee contributed to the growth in export trade.

The country exported soybean oil worth Rs. 36.04 billion during the first two months of the current fiscal year.

During the review period, soybean oil exports increased by 76 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Soybean oil worth only Rs. 20.42 million had been exported during the first two months of the last fiscal year.

Similarly, sunflower worth Rs. 2.08 billion and palm oil worth Rs. 2.50 billion were exported during the review period.

The country had exported sunflower worth Rs. 1.38 billion and palm oil worth Rs. 1.36 billion had been exported during the first two months of the last fiscal year.

Likewise, carpet worth Rs. 1.99 billion, tea and coffee worth Rs. 1.07 billion, cardamom worth Rs. 1.65 billion, dog chew worth Rs. 964 million have been exported during the first two months of the current fiscal year.

Along with exports, imports also increased by 31.58 per cent to Rs. 401.51 billion during the review period.

In the same period of the previous fiscal year, the country imported goods worth Rs. 305.15 billion.

During the review period, petroleum products worth Rs. 66.13 billion have been imported during the first two months of the current fiscal year.

Diesel worth Rs. 28.03 billion, petrol worth Rs. 16.13 billion, aviation fuel worth Rs. 5.22 billion and liquefied petroleum gas worth Rs. 16.13 billion were imported during the review period.

Similarly, the country imported crude soybean oil worth Rs. 38.05 billion, crude palm oil worth Rs. 1.99 million and crude sunflower oil worth Rs. 6.37 million during the review month.

Trade deficit up by 26%

According to the statistics, the trade deficit increased by 26.02 per cent to Rs. 324.93 billion during the review period.

The country had faced a trade deficit of Rs. 257.83 billion during the first two months of the last fiscal year.

Similarly, the country’s total foreign trade volume reached Rs. 478.10 billion during the review period, which is 35.64 per cent higher than the previous year.

Due to significant growth in exports, the export-to-import ratio improved by 18.17 per cent during the review period.

However, the ratio of exports to imports remains at 1:5.24, compared to 1:6.45 in the same period of the last fiscal year.The share of export to the total foreign trade increased by 19.33 per cent while share of imports to total trade dropped by 3 per cent.

The share of exports in total foreign trade improved to 16.2 per cent from 13.42 per cent while imports dropped to 83.98 per cent from 86.58 per cent.