New Delhi: India’s merchandise exports rose by one per cent to $34.99 billion in April even as the trade deficit widened to a four-month high of $19.1 billion during the month, according to government data.

Healthy growth in sectors such as electronics, chemicals, petroleum products and pharmaceuticals has helped in registering positive growth in exports despite global economic uncertainties.

Imports also increased by 10.25 per cent to $54.09 billion in the month under review from $49.06 billion in April 2023 due to a significant jump in gold imports. The imports of precious metals more than doubled to $3.11 billion in April this year. Crude oil imports rose by 20.22 per cent to $16.5 billion. Trade deficit, or the gap between imports and exports, in April 2023 stood at $14.44 billion.