India's exports during December grew merely by seven percent to $25.02 billion from the $23.44 billion in last December, due to sluggish demand in the western markets of the US and Europe.
On the other hand, imports for the month under review stood at $37.75 billion, up by 20 percent from the $31.51 billion in December 2010, according to the Commerce Ministry data released Wednesday.
The trade deficit in December stood at $12.73 billion, compared with $8.07 billion in December 2010.
During Apr.-Dec. 2011 period, the country's exports grew by 26 percent to $217.66 billion from the $172.96, due to better performance in the previous months, while imports rose by 30 percent to $350.94 billion from the $26.92, leaving a trade deficit of $133.28 billion.
In December, oil imports grew by 11 percent to $10.28 billion. Non-oil imports rose by 23 percent to $27.47 billion over the year-ago period.
During April-December, oil imports stood at $ 105.5 billion, an increase of 40 percent. Non-oil imports rose by 27 percent to $245.3 billion.
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