India's Leather Exports Dip in July, Even as Overall Trade Booms

India's leather industry didn't do as well in July 2026 as the country's trade overall. While India's total exports grew strongly for the month, leather and leather goods sold abroad actually earned less money than the same time last year, according to the latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. This raises questions for an industry already dealing with rising costs, even as other sectors like electronics and engineering goods are booming.

What happened to leather exports

In July 2026, India exported US$ 422.26 million worth of leather and leather products. That's down 5.63% from July last year, when exports were worth US$ 447.45 million. This is a bit surprising, since India's total merchandise exports increased 19.63% to US$ 44.24 billion in July 2026, compared with US$ 36.98 billion in July 2025, so leather clearly didn't keep pace with the rest of the country's trade.

There's an interesting twist, though. If we look at the numbers in Indian rupees instead of dollars, leather exports actually went up by about 5%. That's mainly because the rupee and dollar exchange rate shifted over the year, making the dollar numbers look weaker than the rupee numbers.

The four month picture looks similar

Looking at the bigger April to July period, the story doesn't change much. Leather exports totaled US$ 1.46 billion, down 5% compared to the same period last year. Again, in rupee terms, this actually shows a small increase of about 5.35%.

Leather makes up a small part of India's overall exports  less than 1% of the total. The big export earners this year have been engineering goods, petroleum products, and electronics.

Imports are growing faster than exports

While leather exports fell, India's imports of leather and leather products actually rose. In July, imports grew 1.29% to US$ 90.09 million. And over the four month period, imports jumped by a much bigger 13.45%, reaching US$ 339.41 million.

This means India is buying more leather related goods from other countries at a faster pace than it's selling its own leather goods abroad.

What this means going forward

India's total exports are still doing very well overall, growing over 17% for the April to July period and reaching nearly US$174 billion. But the leather sector's weaker performance may catch the attention of industry groups, who will likely want to understand why costs, competition, or demand from other countries are holding leather back even during a strong year for Indian trade overall.