India Invisibles
Balance of Payments (BoP) statistics systematically summarises the economic transactions of an economy with the rest of the World for a specific period
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is responsible for compilation and dissemination of BoP data. BoP is broadly consistent with the guidelines contained in the BoP Manual of the International Monetary Fund
Balance of payment (BoP) comprises of current account, capital account, errors and omissions and changes in foreign exchange reserves
Under current account of the BoP, transactions are classified into merchandise (exports and imports) and invisibles
Invisible transactions are further classified into three categories, namely
- Services-travel, transportation, insurance, Government not included elsewhere (GNIE) and miscellaneous (such as, communication, construction, financial, software, news agency, royalties, management and business services);
- Income; and
- Transfers (grants, gifts, remittances, ets.) which do not have any quid pro quo
While data is available on both the Credit and the Debit side, for the ease of reference, we have captured the "Net", that is (Credit-Debit), or (Invisibles Exports- Invisibles Imports)
Table below captures trend in India's Net "Invisibles" account, comprising Non factor Services , Income Net, Private Transfers Net and Official Transfers Net (Source: RBI)
| Year | Non factor Services Net USD mn | Income Net USD mn | Private Transfers Net USD mn | Official Transfers Net USD mn | Invisibles Net USD mn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 188823.8 | -48368.5 | 124555.8 | -1165.1 | 263846.0 |
| 2023-24 | 162751.6 | -49736.4 | 106631.1 | -846.1 | 218800.2 |
| 2022-23 | 143282.7 | -45923.3 | 101776.5 | -899.6 | 198236.3 |
| 2021-22 | 107515.7 | -37269.2 | 81229.9 | -782.6 | 150693.8 |
| 2020-21 | 88565.3 | -35960.4 | 74439.3 | -979.4 | 126064.8 |
| 2019-20 | 84922.1 | -27280.6 | 76217.5 | -1009.3 | 132849.6 |
| 2018-19 | 81940.9 | -28861.1 | 70601.1 | -654.6 | 123026.3 |
| 2017-18 | 77561.9 | -28680.9 | 62949.0 | -511.3 | 111318.6 |
| 2016-17 | 68344.6 | -26301.9 | 56572.6 | -589.5 | 98025.8 |
| 2015-16 | 69676.5 | -24375.3 | 63139.1 | -512.2 | 107928.1 |
| 2014-15 | 76529.2 | -24140.0 | 66263.6 | -571.6 | 118081.1 |
| 2013-14 | 73065.6 | -23028.5 | 65481.1 | -205.1 | 115313.1 |
| 2012-13 | 64914.7 | -21455.4 | 64342.3 | -308.7 | 107492.8 |
| 2011-12 | 64097.6 | -15987.7 | 63468.7 | 25.4 | 111604.0 |
| 2010-11 | 44080.7 | -17951.6 | 53124.8 | 15.6 | 79269.4 |
| 2009-10 | 36015.7 | -8038.3 | 51791.4 | 253.7 | 80022.2 |
| 2008-09 | 53916.0 | -7109.9 | 44566.7 | 231.6 | 91604.5 |
| 2007-08 | 38853.0 | -5068.0 | 41707.0 | 239.0 | 75730.0 |
| 2006-07 | 29469.0 | -7331.0 | 29825.0 | 254.0 | 52217.0 |
| 2005-06 | 23170.0 | -5855.0 | 24493.0 | 194.0 | 42002.0 |
| 2004-05 | 15426.0 | -4979.0 | 20525.0 | 260.0 | 31232.0 |
| 2003-04 | 10144.0 | -4505.0 | 21608.0 | 554.0 | 27801.0 |
| 2002-03 | 3643.0 | -3446.0 | 16387.0 | 451.0 | 17035.0 |
| 2001-02 | 3324.0 | -4206.0 | 15398.0 | 458.0 | 14974.0 |
| 2000-01 | 1692.0 | -5004.0 | 12854.0 | 252.0 | 9794.0 |
| 1999-00 | 4064.0 | -3559.0 | 12256.0 | 382.0 | 13143.0 |
| 1998-99 | 2165.0 | -3544.0 | 10280.0 | 307.0 | 9208.0 |
| 1997-98 | 1319.0 | -3520.0 | 11830.0 | 379.0 | 10008.0 |
| 1996-97 | 726.0 | -3307.0 | 12367.0 | 410.0 | 10196.0 |
| 1995-96 | -200.0 | -3205.0 | 8507.0 | 345.0 | 5447.0 |
| 1994-95 | 602.0 | -3431.0 | 8093.0 | 416.0 | 5680.0 |
| 1993-94 | 534.0 | -3270.0 | 5264.0 | 369.0 | 2897.0 |
| 1992-93 | 1129.0 | -3423.0 | 3852.0 | 363.0 | 1921.0 |
| 1991-92 | 1207.0 | -3829.0 | 3783.0 | 459.0 | 1620.0 |
| 1990-91 | 980.0 | -3752.0 | 2069.0 | 461.0 | -242.0 |
| 1989-90 | 723.0 | -2928.0 | 2281.0 | 539.0 | 615.0 |
| 1988-89 | 729.0 | -2519.0 | 2652.0 | 500.0 | 1362.0 |
| 1987-88 | 545.0 | -1337.0 | 2698.0 | 411.0 | 2316.0 |
| 1986-87 | 995.0 | -977.0 | 2327.0 | 411.0 | 2756.0 |
| 1985-86 | 1187.0 | -776.0 | 2207.0 | 349.0 | 2966.0 |
| 1984-85 | 1097.0 | -838.0 | 2496.0 | 483.0 | 3238.0 |
| 1983-84 | 1089.0 | -527.0 | 2558.0 | 380.0 | 3499.0 |
| 1982-83 | 1003.0 | -336.0 | 2510.0 | 394.0 | 3572.0 |
| 1981-82 | 1064.0 | 214.0 | 2314.0 | 502.0 | 4094.0 |
| 1980-81 | 1297.0 | 325.0 | 2693.0 | 750.0 | 5065.0 |
| 1979-80 | 679.0 | 110.0 | 2172.0 | 612.0 | 3573.0 |
| 1978-79 | 581.0 | -155.0 | 1332.0 | 648.0 | 2406.0 |
| 1977-78 | 524.0 | -247.0 | 1287.0 | 447.0 | 2011.0 |
| 1976-77 | 284.0 | -211.0 | 845.0 | 429.0 | 1347.0 |
| 1975-76 | 359.0 | -258.0 | 509.0 | 552.0 | 1162.0 |
| 1974-75 | 268.0 | -312.0 | 287.0 | 173.0 | 416.0 |
| 1973-74 | 87.0 | -405.0 | 186.0 | 2225.0 | 2093.0 |
| 1972-73 | 60.0 | -386.0 | 128.0 | 11.0 | -187.0 |
| 1971-72 | 32.0 | -361.0 | 140.0 | 156.0 | -33.0 |
| 1970-71 | 11.0 | -338.0 | 116.0 | 162.0 | -49.0 |
| 1969-70 | 43.0 | -328.0 | 112.0 | 90.0 | -83.0 |
| 1968-69 | 86.0 | -311.0 | 102.0 | 143.0 | 20.0 |
| 1967-68 | 111.0 | -281.0 | 71.0 | 93.0 | -6.0 |
| 1966-67 | 151.0 | -315.0 | 86.0 | 176.0 | 98.0 |
| 1965-66 | 90.0 | -261.0 | 130.0 | 193.0 | 152.0 |
| 1964-65 | 195.0 | -229.0 | 52.0 | 298.0 | 316.0 |
| 1963-64 | 143.0 | -193.0 | 72.0 | 174.0 | 196.0 |
| 1962-63 | 88.0 | -174.0 | 55.0 | 162.0 | 131.0 |
| 1961-62 | 62.0 | -143.0 | 52.0 | 97.0 | 68.0 |
| 1960-61 | 120.0 | -101.0 | 59.0 | 95.0 | 173.0 |
| 1959-60 | 143.0 | -70.0 | 84.0 | 80.0 | 237.0 |
| 1958-59 | 142.0 | -42.0 | 86.0 | 76.0 | 262.0 |
| 1957-58 | 126.0 | -13.0 | 94.0 | 69.0 | 276.0 |
| 1956-57 | 127.0 | 19.0 | 100.0 | 78.0 | 324.0 |
| 1955-56 | 106.0 | 78.0 | 109.0 | 293.0 | |
| 1954-55 | 102.0 | -10.0 | 71.0 | 46.0 | 209.0 |
| 1953-54 | 93.0 | -6.0 | 86.0 | 40.0 | 213.0 |
| 1952-53 | 92.0 | -17.0 | 96.0 | 23.0 | 194.0 |
| 1951-52 | 89.0 | -38.0 | 88.0 | 11.0 | 150.0 |
| 1950-51 | 59.0 | -50.0 | 73.0 | 4.0 | 86.0 |
For the year 2024-25, Net Non-Factor Services amounted to US dollar 188,823.8 million (USD 188.8 billion), Net Income was -ve US 48,368.5 million (-USD 48.3 billion), Net Private Transfers were US dollar 124,555.8 million (USD 124.6 billion) while Net Official Transfers were -ve US dollar 1,165.1 million (-USD 1.17 billion) leading to Net Invisibles of US dollar 263,846 million (USD 263.8 billion)
India's Invisibles have grown rapidly since the beginning of the current century. Net Invisibles were only USD 9.79 billion during 2000-01. They crossed the USD 100 billion mark during 2011-12, and the USD 200 billion mark during 2023-24
The role of invisibles in India's balance of payments is decisive; they have acted as a powerful cushion, consistently generating a substantial surplus that largely offsets merchandise (goods) trade deficit, thus keeping the overall current account deficit (CAD) at manageable levels
View the trends graphically