Here is a series of infographics that shows the evolution of Nepal’s export destination. The data is sourced from WB data visualizer. It didn’t have such info for gross exports after 2003.
Top 10 export destination in 1990:
- United States (US$ 60.73 million)
- Germany (US$ 44.66 million)
- India (US$ 21.87 million)
- Switzerland (US$ 11.77 million)
- United Kingdom (US$ 7.80 million)
- China
- Iraq
- Italy
- Bangladesh
- Japan
Top 10 export destination in 1995:
- Germany (US$ 131.24 million)
- United States (US$ 103.03 million)
- India (US$ 67.51 million)
- Switzerland (US$ 9.30 million)
- Italy (US$ 7.18 million)
- United Kingdom
- China
- Austria
- Iraq
- Canada
Top export destination in 1998:
It was in 1998 when India became the top export destination of Nepal, thanks to the trade and transit treaty of 1996 (which eliminated value addition requirement for Nepalese exports to India. This provision was replaced with 30% VA in 2000 and Nepalese exports got a hit).
- India (US$ 136.43 million)
- United States (US$ 107.56 million)
- Germany (US$ 103.14 million)
- Bangladesh (US$ 9 million)
- France (US$ 7.36 million)
- Italy
- Austria
- United Kingdom
- Sri Lanka
- Iraq
Top 10 export destination in 2000:
- India (US$ 317.79 million)
- United States (US$ 192.16 million)
- Germany (US$ 105.52 million)
- United Kingdom (US$ 16.74 million)
- Belgium (US$ 11.40 million)
- France
- Japan
- Hong Kong, China
- Switzerland
- Spain
Top 10 export destination in 2003:
- India (US$ 341.79 million)
- United States (US$ 189.73 million)
- China (US$ 22.43 million)
- Germany (US$ 22.11 million)
- United Kingdom (US$ 13.60 million)
- Bangladesh
- France
- Japan
- Italy
- Portugal
Fast forward to 2011 (fiscal year 2010/11), the top exports destination were (total exports amounted to Rs 64.56 billion; data is sourced from TEPC trade data):
- India (Rs 42.87 billion)
United States (Rs 4.39 billion) Bangladesh (Rs 3.47 billion) Germany (Rs 2.768 billion) U.K (Rs 1.389 billion) France Turkey Canada Italy China P.R Overall, the number of countries Nepal sends goods to has increased but an increasing amount of volume (and revenue) is being concentrated to the Indian market. The phasing out of quotas and slashing of tariff rates in the European markets and the US have contributed to declining share of exports to these countries. At the end, Nepalese products could not compete with exports of similar nature from other countries. Here is a blog post on Nepal’s problems with exports.
