KATHMANDU: Total trade deficit over the first seven months of 2025/26 widened by 10.91% to Rs 955.34 billion, thanks to slow export growth.

Foreign trade data over the first seven months of the current fiscal year, released by the Department of Customs on Friday, show Nepal imported goods worth Rs 1,123.48 billion in the review period, up from Rs 988.59 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Exports also posted a strong increase of 32.19%, in the review period reaching Rs 168.15 billion from Rs 127.20 billion a year earlier.

Export growth, however, was slower in the review month compared to previous months of the fiscal year.

Nepal’s total foreign trade was worth Rs 1,291.63 billion in the review period, up 15.76% compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Data show the imports-to-exports ratio improved to 6.68 from 7.77 in the same period of the previous fiscal year, indicating a modest strengthening in export performance relative to imports. The share of exports in total trade increased to 13.02% as of mid-February of the current fiscal year, compared to 11.4% in the same period of the previous fiscal year. Similarly, the share of imports in total foreign trade declined by 1.83% to 86.98%. In the same period of the previous fiscal year, imports constituted 88.6% of total foreign trade.

As usual, crude soybean oil remained Nepal’s largest import item in the first seven months of the current fiscal year, with imports totaling Rs 70.99 billion. Diesel ranked second with imports worth Rs 69.9 billion, followed by petrol (Rs 38.13 billion), liquefied petroleum gas (Rs 31.85 billion), and sponge iron (Rs 31.09 billion).

On the export front, soybean oil continued to dominate Nepal’s outbound trade, generating Rs 66.78 billion in earnings. Large cardamom emerged as the second-biggest export item at Rs 8.61 billion. Next were sunflower oil (Rs 5.78 billion), hand-knotted carpets (Rs 5.71 billion), and jute Rs 4.01 billion.