(THE GIST OF PIB) Merchandise Trade Indices

(FEBRUARY-2026)

Merchandise Trade Indices

Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics revised base year of Merchandise Trade Indices to FY 2022–23 to reflect current trade structure and global patterns.

About Merchandise Trade Indices:

It is compiled and published by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI&S), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
Purpose: It measures changes in the unit values (prices) of India’s exports and imports over time.
Base Year: It was revised from FY 2012–13 to FY 2022–23.

The Revised Series includes:

Monthly, Quarterly and Annual Indices (Export Unit Value Index, Import Unit Value Index)
Principal Commodity (PC) Classification wise Trade Indices (Export/Import)
Standard International Trade Classification-wise (SITC) Trade Indices
Broad economic categories-wise (BEC) Trade Indices
Bilateral and Region-wise Trade Indices of Top 20 Export and Import partner nations of India
Terms of Trade (Gross terms of trade, Net terms of trade and Income terms of trade)
Significance: These indices serve as important indicators of external sector price movements and are widely used for economic analysis, including national accounts compilation and assessment of terms of trade.