Human hair saw biggest surge in Indian products exported post-Covid

Human hair is among Indian products that saw the biggest surge in exports, in the post-Covid era. The value of export for unworked human hair increased nearly five times from $34.5 million in 2018-’19 to $180 million last year, according to data compiled by Global Trade Research Initiative, or GTRI. Among other high export products of India are groundnut oil, smartphones and specific category copper wire, report by the research added.

Export of groundnut oil was almost next to nil in 2018-’19 (FY19) while the figure shot up phenomenally to scale $217 million in the fiscal year 2023-’24 (FY24). Copper wire with maximum cross-section diameter of over six millimetres is another product that saw a dramatic rise in exports, with numbers increasing around 11 times from $76 million in 2018-’19 to $867 million in 2023-’24.

India’s export of smartphones rose more than nine times from $1.6 billion in the fiscal year 2018-’19 to $15.5 billion in the fiscal year 2023-’24, according to the GTRI report. After 2020, in the post-Covid scenario, the government of India has worked actively to get multinational brands such as Apple and Samsung to make in India, adopting the China Plus One, or C+1, strategy. The focus of the strategy has been to promote the manufacture and export of high-end commodities, but the approach has benefitted other products, too.

India’s overall exports to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners grew by 14.48 per cent from $ 107.20 billion in FY19 to $122.72 billion in FY24. Around the same time, the country’s imports grew by 37.97 per cent, from $136.20 billion to $187.92 billion. The GTRI report noted that the growth “highlights the significant and varied impact of free trade agreements on India’s global trade dynamics”.

Overall, India ranks at number 17 in the global list of countries that export, and enjoys 1.8 per cent share of global export trade. As far as imports go, India is placed at number 8 with a 2.8 per cent share in international import trade.