Kathmandu, July 25: Nepal’s exports reached a record high in fiscal year 2025-26, which ended in mid-July, but the country’s export success is becoming increasingly dependent on a narrow range of products and a single market — India.
According to the annual foreign trade statistics released by the Department of Customs this week, Nepal’s merchandise exports rose 13.8 per cent to NPR 315.29 billion, a record high, but behind that growth lies a concentration of both products and export destinations.
Refined soybean oil remained by far Nepal’s largest export, earning NPR 128.74 billion and accounting for 40.8 per cent of total merchandise exports.
When other edible oil products are included, exports of goods categorized under animal and vegetable fats and oils reached NPR 148.98 billion, accounting for 47.3 per cent of Nepal’s total exports.
In effect, nearly one out of every two export rupees earned by the country came from edible oils.
Almost all of the refined edible oil is sold in the Indian market.
Nepal’s refined cooking oil industry depends on imported crude edible oil, most of which is imported from Argentina and other South American countries.
As Nepal does not have large-scale commercial soybean farming, refined soybean oil is largely imported, suggesting that the country’s largest export industry relies heavily on imported raw materials. (IANS)
