India has cut its November gold import estimates by an unprecedented $5 billion, the largest revision for any commodity in history, after errors in preliminary calculations inflated the figure to a record, government data showed on Wednesday.
New Delhi said last month its gold imports hit a record high of $14.8 billion in November, more than doubling from $7.13 billion in October.
The spike widened the country’s merchandise trade deficit to a record $37.84 billion in November, exceeding economists’ forecast of $23.9 billion and spooking financial markets.
The country’s gold imports in November were $9.84 billion, compared with a preliminary estimate of $14.8 billion published last month, data compiled by the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS) showed.
The downward revision in gold imports by $5 billion would reduce the trade deficit by a similar amount, said a government official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
India is the world’s second-largest consumer of gold and relies on imports to meet most of its demand, which typically increases during the festival and wedding season in the December quarter.
Despite the revision of November numbers, the country spent a record $47 billion on gold imports in the first 11 months of 2024, surpassing the $42.6 billion spent during the whole of 2023, as gold prices jumped to a record high, the data showed.
Gold delivered better returns than stocks for Indian investors in 2024, driving increased demand for coins and bars, according to the World Gold Council.
India imports gold from countries including African countries, Peru, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
Its gold imports rose sharply after India, in July, cut import duties on gold to 6% from 15%.
Higher November imports raised concerns among the bullion industry of import duty hikes to curb consumption, but revised data shows no unusual demand rise, a Mumbai-based dealer with a gold importing bank said.
(By Rajendra Jadhav and Shivangi Acharya; Editing by Tom Hogue, Sharon Singleton and Barbara Lewis)
