Exports grew by merely 6.7% to $25 billion in December 2011 compared to the same month last year due to demand slowdown in the western markets of the US and Europe.
On the other hand, imports were up by 19.8% year-on-year to $37.7 billion in the month, according to the Commerce Ministry data released today.
In December 2010, exports stood at $23.4 billion, while imports were worth $31.5 billion. The trade deficit stood at $12.7 billion in December 2011 compared to $8 billion in the same period last year.
A muted export growth is mainly due to declining demand from Europe and the US.
Due to better performance in the previous months, the country's exports grew by 25.8% year-on-year to $217.6 billion in the April-December 2011-12.
During the first nine months of the fiscal, imports also rose by 30.3% to $350.9 billion leaving a trade gap of $133.2 billion.
In December, oil imports grew by 11.2% to $10.2 billion. Non-oil imports rose by 23.3% to $27.4 billion over the year-ago period.
During April-December, oil imports stood at $105.5 billion, an increase of 40.3%. Non-oil imports rose by 26.5% to $245.3 billion.