Trade in goods: India and Australia

Strategic Lens

Did the 2022 trade agreement with Australia raise India's exports?

What happened. India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement on 2 April 2022, and it took effect on 29 December 2022, after earlier attempts at a free trade agreement had failed.

1. In 2017 Australia's prime minister said the parties might be too far apart to conclude a free trade agreement.
2. The 2022 agreement was signed during a period of closer ties, with a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and a Foreign and Defence 2+2 dialogue.
3. India's goods exports to Australia rose from about USD 3.0 billion in 2019 to about USD 8.2 billion in 2022, before the agreement took effect.
4. Much of that rise was refined fuels, where exports moved from about USD 0.35 billion in 2019 to about USD 4.3 billion in 2022.
5. Exports were about USD 7.7 billion in 2023 to 2025, roughly level with the 2022 peak.

Understanding. From our lens, the trade data alone cannot show that the agreement lifted exports. The rise came before it took effect and was driven by fuels, and exports have been flat since. The agreement is better read as a framework that widened access than as a source of one-off growth.

Sources: Wikipedia: Australia–India relations (revision of 24 September 2026); UN Comtrade (public preview API), annual goods trade, HS classification (retrieved 26 September 2026)

Last updated on 25 September 2026