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India
India is amongst the world’s fastest-growing large economies and is an important player in global economic governance. India is an important trade and investment partner for the EU. It represents a sizable and dynamic market, with an annual GDP growth rate of around 6% (pre-Covid-19).
Trade picture
- The EU is India's third largest trading partner, accounting for €62.8 billion worth of trade in goods in 2020 or 11.1% of total Indian trade, after China (12%) and the US (11.7%).The EU is the second-largest destination for Indian exports (14% of the total) after the USA.
- India is the EU’s 10th largest trading partner, accounting for 1.8% of EU total trade in goods in 2020, well behind China (16.1%), the USA (15.2%), and the UK (12.2%).
- Trade in goods between the EU and India increased by 12.5% in the last decade.
- Trade in services between the EU and India reached €32.7 billion in 2020.The EU's share in foreign investment inflows to India more than doubled from 8% to 18% in the last decade, making the EU the first foreign investor in India.
- EU foreign direct investment stocks in India amounted to €75.8 billion in 2019, which is significant but way below EU foreign investment stocks in China (€198.7 billion) or Brazil (€318.9 billion).
- Some 6,000 European companies are present in India, providing directly 1.7 million jobs and indirectly 5 million jobs in a broad range of sectors.
EU-India: Trade in goods
| Year | EU imports | EU exports | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 37.9 | 40.1 | 2.2 |
| 2019 | 39.6 | 38.2 | -1.4 |
| 2020 | 33.0 | 32.2 | -0.9 |
EU-India: Trade in services
| Year | EU imports | EU exports | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 14.0 | 13.6 | -0.5 |
| 2018 | 16.1 | 14.9 | -1.2 |
| 2019 | 17.8 | 14.8 | -2.9 |
EU-India: Foreign direct investment
| Year | Inward stocks | Outward stocks | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 7.2 | 75.8 | 68.5 |
Unless otherwise mentioned “EU” concerns for all indicated years the current European Union of 27 Member States.
Date of retrieval: 12/04/2021
EU and India
EU-India trade negotiations
On 8 May 2021, the EU and Indian Leaders’ agreed to resume negotiations for a “balanced, ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial” trade agreement, and to launch separate negotiations on an investment protection agreement and another agreement on geographical indications. They agreed to link trade negotiations to finding “solutions to long-standing market access issues”. Additionally, Leaders agreed to set up a dialogue on WTO issues as well as joint working groups on regulatory cooperation and resilient supply chains. The EU-India High-Level Dialogue on Trade and Investment was tasked with supervising the implementation of these decisions.
Both sides are now engaged in internal preparations to take these various strands of work forward.
A key EU objective in its trade relations with India is to work towards a sound, transparent, open, non-discriminatory and predictable regulatory and business environment for European companies trading with or investing in India, including the protection of their investments and intellectual property. The aim is to contribute to unlocking the untapped potential of two-way trade between the EU and India.
Currently, India’s trade regime and regulatory environment remains relatively restrictive. Technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures, deviation from international standards and agreements, as well as discrimination based on legislative or administrative measures by India, affect a wide range of sectors, including goods, services, investment and public procurement.
The EU uses all available channels and fora to work with India to ensure fair market access and predictable investment conditions, as well as to promote the full respect by both sides of their multilateral obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO). Key instruments in this respect are the EU-India Trade Sub-Commission established under the 1994 Cooperation and Partnership Agreement between the EU and India, as well as its specialised technical working groups.
For more information
More information on the EU-India strategic partnership, including in the area of trade and investment, can be found on the new EU Strategy for India adopted on 20 November 2018 and the related Council conclusions.
Trading with India
- Importing into the EU from India
- EU trade defence measures on imports from India
- Exporting from the EU to India
- The EU is present on the ground in India
- Trade relations are part of the EU's overall political and economic relations with India
- India is a member of the World Trade Organisation