Nepal conducted foreign trade with more than 164 countries in the fiscal year 2024/25, but the country struggled with large trade deficits against most of its partners. According to the Department of Customs, Nepal achieved a trade surplus with only 37 countries, while the overall trade imbalance reached Rs. 1,527.09 billion.

Despite the gap, Nepal’s exports showed a sharp rise, climbing 81.80% compared with the previous year to Rs. 277.03 billion. This growth was overshadowed by imports, exposing structural weaknesses in domestic production and the lack of export diversification.

The highest trade surplus was recorded with Afghanistan at Rs. 686 million, followed by Denmark at Rs. 338 million. Nepal exported goods worth Rs. 770 million to Afghanistan while importing only Rs. 84 million. Exports to Denmark stood at Rs. 701 million, against imports of Rs. 362 million. Smaller surpluses were noted with countries including the Russian Federation (Rs. 77 million). Nepal also exported exclusively to several countries such as Angola, Aruba, Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Chad, Fiji, Libya, and Yemen, creating modest surpluses.

In contrast, the largest deficits came from Nepal’s two biggest trade partners. Trade deficit with India rose to Rs. 846.51 billion, while with China it reached Rs. 338.47 billion. India accounted for more than 60% of Nepal’s total trade, with Nepal exporting goods worth Rs. 224.68 billion and importing Rs. 1,071.19 billion. Imports from China stood at Rs. 341.10 billion, against exports of only Rs. 2.63 billion.

Argentina emerged as Nepal’s third-largest trade gap, with a deficit of Rs. 99.29 billion. Nepal imported Rs. 99.30 billion worth of goods while exporting only Rs. 3.3 million.

Other major deficits were reported with Ukraine (Rs. 24.90 billion), the United Arab Emirates (Rs. 22.31 billion), Australia (Rs. 17.94 billion), Indonesia (Rs. 14.91 billion), Thailand (Rs. 14.75 billion), Malaysia (Rs. 13.88 billion), and Brazil (Rs. 11.80 billion).

Nepal also recorded trade deficits with Qatar (Rs. 9.02 billion), France (Rs. 8.90 billion), Saudi Arabia (Rs. 8.19 billion), the United States (Rs. 7.64 billion), Vietnam (Rs. 6.83 billion), South Korea (Rs. 6.36 billion), Singapore (Rs. 6.04 billion), Turkey (Rs. 4.42 billion), the United Kingdom (Rs. 3.24 billion), Myanmar (Rs. 2.7 billion), Germany (Rs. 2.2 billion), Spain (Rs. 1.5 billion), and Poland (Rs. 1.2 billion).

While Nepal’s expanding export performance offers signs of progress, the scale of imports continues to dominate, keeping the nation’s trade balance heavily in deficit.

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