+0.6% year on year
World
India from the outside
Foreign reserves and exchange rates track the present, while remittances, migration, development and public rankings place India in a longer global view.
External buffer
India held $693 billion in foreign exchange reserves
+0.6% from the comparable week a year earlier. The RBI observation is dated 31 July 2026.
Reserve Bank of India Weekly Statistical Supplement. The total includes foreign currency assets, gold, SDRs and India’s reserve position in the IMF.
US Treasury holdings attributed to India stood at $181 billion in May 2026
The US series is based largely on custodians and does not precisely identify the ultimate owner. The RBI’s separate forward-dollar position is shown below on its own monthly clock.
US Treasury securities attributed to India$181 billion
May 2026
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RBI dollar purchases$22.2 billionMay 2026
RBI dollar sales$28.3 billionMay 2026
Outstanding net forward position−$107 billionnegative means net forward sales
Data sources: US Department of the Treasury, Treasury International Capital system; and Reserve Bank of India Bulletin. Treasury country attribution is based largely on custodians. The RBI table reports monthly dollar purchases and sales and the outstanding net forward position.
Foreign money
Money sent home outweighs money invested
Remittances were 3.9 times net foreign direct investment in 2025. Both series are annual and shown in current US dollars.
Remittances received$151 billion
2025
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Net FDI inflows$39.1 billion
2025
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World Bank World Development Indicators. Remittances use personal transfers and compensation of employees received. FDI is net inflows in the reporting economy.
Services exports
Software-services exports reached $205 billion in 2024-25
The Reserve Bank of India’s annual survey put the same exports at ₹17.31 trillion. The series excludes sales delivered through companies’ overseas commercial presence.
Software-services exports$205 billion₹17.31 trillion
2024-25
data.indiadispatch.com
Data source: Reserve Bank of India annual survey on computer software and information-technology-enabled services exports. Dollar and rupee values are the source’s reported annual estimates.
India drew 1.8% of global foreign direct investment in 2024
$27.6 billion entered India as FDI. Separately, announced greenfield projects totalled $110 billion; announcements are not realised investment.
FDI inflows$27.6 billion
2024
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Share of world inflows1.8%
2024
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Announced greenfield projects$110 billion2024
Change from a year earlier+28%announced capital expenditure
What this measuresIntentionsnot realised investment
Data source: United Nations Trade and Development. FDI inflows are realised annual flows. Greenfield figures are announced capital expenditure and are shown separately because they measure investment intentions.
India imported $216 billion and exported $130 billion through June
The merchandise trade balance was −$86.6 billion in 2026-27 to date. A negative balance means imports exceeded exports.
Completed-year exports$438 billion
2025-26
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Completed-year imports$721 billion
2025-26
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Trade balance−$284 billion
2025-26
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Data source: Department of Commerce TradeStat. Current-year figures are cumulative through the stated month and marked provisional by TradeStat. Annual observations are completed financial years. Values use TradeStat’s source unit of US dollars.
India's largest merchandise trading partners
June 2026-27 year-to-date values. Export and import rankings are kept separate because the two lists answer different questions.
Largest export destinations
| Country | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $25.5 billion | 19.7% |
| United Arab Emirates | $7.95 billion | 6.1% |
| Singapore | $6.5 billion | 5.0% |
| China | $5.59 billion | 4.3% |
| Netherlands | $4.52 billion | 3.5% |
| U K | $3.69 billion | 2.8% |
| South Africa | $3.15 billion | 2.4% |
| Germany | $3.1 billion | 2.4% |
| Bangladesh Pr | $3.06 billion | 2.4% |
| Tanzania Rep | $2.91 billion | 2.2% |
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Largest import sources
| Country | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|
| China | $38 billion | 17.6% |
| Russia | $25.6 billion | 11.8% |
| United States | $16.7 billion | 7.7% |
| United Arab Emirates | $15 billion | 7.0% |
| Saudi Arab | $7.56 billion | 3.5% |
| South Korea | $6.82 billion | 3.2% |
| Singapore | $6.58 billion | 3.0% |
| Japan | $5.92 billion | 2.7% |
| Germany | $5.38 billion | 2.5% |
| Hong Kong | $5.15 billion | 2.4% |
data.indiadispatch.com
Data source: Department of Commerce TradeStat country-wise merchandise trade. “Unspecified” is retained if it appears in the official table; missing trade is not reassigned to a country.
India bought 8.0 times as much from China as it sold in 2025-26
Imports were $113 billion, exports were $14.3 billion, and the merchandise deficit was −$99.2 billion.
Imports$113 billion
2025-26
data.indiadispatch.com
Data source: Department of Commerce TradeStat. Figures cover completed financial years and merchandise trade only. China is shown using the source’s country classification.
The rupee against the world
The real rupee index is 10% below its 2020 base
The real index adjusts for relative prices while the nominal index tracks currencies alone. Both are broad monthly BIS indices with 2020 equal to 100.
Real effective exchange rate90.15
June 2026
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Nominal effective exchange rate81.50
June 2026
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Bank for International Settlements effective exchange rate indices, distributed through the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
India’s fertility rate fell below two births per woman in 2024
The historical estimate was 1.96 births per woman. India’s population was 1.45 billion, with 68.2% aged 15 to 64.
Population1.45 billion
2024
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Fertility rate1.96
births per woman
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Working-age share68.2%people aged 15 to 64
Population1.45 billion2024
Fertility1.96births per woman
Data source: World Bank World Development Indicators. These are historical population estimates, not projections.
Foreign people
Indian lives beyond India’s borders
One series counts Indian students enrolled in the United States. The other counts people born in India and living abroad.
Indian students in the US363,019
2024/25
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India-born people abroad18.53 million
2024
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IIE Open Doors country fact sheets and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs International Migrant Stock.
Foreign institutions
Growth forecasts and long-run development
The IMF forecast moves with each Outlook. HDI is annual and combines health, education and income.
Fiscal year 2026
Fiscal year 2027
Rank 130 in 2023
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International Monetary Fund World Economic Outlook and United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report.
Public scorecards
What broad rankings capture, and what they miss
Governance scores run from 0 to 100. Innovation is a rank, where a smaller number is better. The governance scores are perception-based and the innovation index is a composite rank. Neither is a direct measure of output.
Worldwide Governance Indicators2024
Score out of 100
| Dimension | Latest | 5 years ago | 10 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voice and accountability | 55.5 | 58.8 2019 | 61.5 2014 |
| Political stability | 52.5 | 55.8 2019 | 51.9 2014 |
| Government effectiveness | 59.2 | 61.2 2019 | 51.1 2014 |
| Regulatory quality | 53.3 | 53.3 2019 | 48.9 2014 |
| Rule of law | 56.3 | 56.6 2019 | 54.1 2014 |
| Control of corruption | 41.9 | 43.4 2019 | 39.5 2014 |
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Global Innovation IndexRank 38
2025
202048
202146
202240
202340
202439
202538
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World Bank Worldwide Governance Indicators and World Intellectual Property Organization Global Innovation Index country profiles.
Strategic position
India's arms imports
A SIPRI trend-indicator value is a volume measure, not a dollar amount.
Arms imports1.17 billion TIV
2024
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Stockholm International Peace Research Institute arms transfers data, distributed through World Bank World Development Indicators.
Quick answers
Questions this page answers
How does the newest official release describe remittances received by India?
The newest verified data show that india received $151 billion in remittances in 2025.
How does the newest official release describe India’s software-services exports?
The newest verified data show that the RBI estimated software-services exports at $204.7 billion in 2024-25.
How does the newest official release describe India’s share of global foreign investment?
The newest verified data show that india accounted for 1.83% of global foreign direct investment inflows in 2024.