Tamil Nadu exported goods worth US$58.95 billion in 2025-26, up from $51.83 billion the year before, according to figures the Union Commerce Minister gave the Lok Sabha on 21 July 2026, as reported by DT Next. That was 13.35% of India’s merchandise exports, and electronics, for the first time, came close to overtaking engineering goods as the state’s biggest export.
A lot of that trade is made in and shipped out of the Chennai belt: phones and components from Sriperumbudur and Oragadam, cars from Irungattukottai and Oragadam, garments and leather from the city’s western suburbs. Here is what the official figures show by product.
The state total
| Year | Tamil Nadu exports (US$ million) | Share of India’s merchandise exports |
|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | 43,218.25 | 9.88% |
| 2024-25 | 51,825.18 | 11.84% |
| 2025-26 | 58,950.70 | 13.35% |
The increase from 2024-25 to 2025-26 works out to about 13.7%. Separately, DT Next reported on Commerce Ministry data showing this was the fastest growth of any state, in a year when India’s merchandise exports grew by less than 1%. India’s merchandise exports for 2025-26 were $441.8 billion, and goods plus services came to $863.1 billion, per News On AIR. Tamil Nadu ranks third among exporting states.
What Tamil Nadu sells abroad
The Lok Sabha reply broke the total into five big sectors. Figures are in US$ million, with the state’s share of India’s exports in that sector for 2025-26.
| Sector | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | TN share of India, 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering goods | 16,841.3 | 18,200.3 | 20,397.0 | 16.66% |
| Electronics | 9,562.56 | 14,652.06 | 19,966.7 | 41.63% |
| Textiles and allied products | 7,362.8 | 8,285.99 | 8,260.69 | 23.13% |
| Motor vehicles | 3,028.12 | 3,146.92 | 3,701.14 | 33.38% |
| Leather | 1,666.53 | 1,636.97 | 1,598.03 | 35.59% |
Three things stand out:
- Electronics doubled in two years, from $9.56 billion to nearly $20 billion. Tamil Nadu now accounts for more than four of every ten dollars of India’s electronics exports.
- Cars grew 17.6% in 2025-26, and one in three Indian motor vehicle export dollars comes from the state.
- Textiles and leather were flat or slightly down. These are the labour-heavy sectors, so the trend matters for jobs in Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Tiruppur and Chennai’s own leather units.
These five sectors together came to about $53.9 billion, or more than nine-tenths of the state’s exports.
How Tamil Nadu’s share is shifting
The share columns in the Lok Sabha reply tell a slightly different story from the dollar values. Between 2023-24 and 2025-26:
- the state’s share of India’s electronics exports rose from 32.84% to 41.63%;
- its share of engineering goods rose from 15.41% to 16.66%, and textiles from 21.38% to 23.13%;
- its share of motor vehicle exports fell from 36.68% to 33.38%, even though the dollar value rose;
- its share of leather exports slipped from 37.3% to 35.59%.
Among other southern states, Karnataka exported $34.4 billion in 2025-26 and grew by more than 12%, the second-fastest rise. Telangana’s exports fell 27%, from $19.1 billion to $13.9 billion, DT Next reported from Commerce Ministry data. All figures here are in US dollars; rupee values change with the exchange rate.
Where the exports come from
District figures put Kancheepuram, which includes the Sriperumbudur and Oragadam manufacturing belt, at $26.4 billion in 2025-26. That made it the second-largest exporting district in India after Jamnagar, DT Next reported from Commerce Ministry data.
Special Economic Zones are a large part of this. A March 2025 Lok Sabha reply put SEZ exports from Tamil Nadu at ₹1,77,930 crore in 2023-24, and said the state had 49 operational SEZs.
Smaller products with a story
Parliament replies also give product-level figures sourced from DGCIS, the Commerce Ministry’s trade statistics directorate. An August 2025 reply on GI-tagged goods put Tamil Nadu’s carpet exports at ₹212.25 crore in 2024-25, up from ₹108.63 crore in 2019-20. Turmeric exports were ₹289.68 crore in 2024-25, per Spices Board data in the same reply.
For Chennai readers, the practical takeaway is that the city’s job market is now tied more to electronics assembly and auto exports than to the garment and leather trades that once dominated its western suburbs.
How to look up the data yourself
- Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha answers on state exports are posted on sansad.in and the Commerce Ministry website; search by state name and session.
- DGCIS publishes state-wise and commodity-wise export data that exporters and researchers can query.
- Exporters registering for the first time need an Importer Exporter Code from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, applied for online.
Quick answers
How much did Tamil Nadu export in 2025-26?
US$58.95 billion in merchandise, 13.35% of India’s total, per the Commerce Ministry’s July 2026 Lok Sabha reply.
What is Tamil Nadu’s biggest export?
Engineering goods at $20.4 billion, with electronics close behind at $20.0 billion.
Which district exports the most?
Kancheepuram, at $26.4 billion, second in India after Jamnagar.
Did leather exports grow?
No. They slipped to about $1.6 billion in 2025-26 from $1.67 billion in 2023-24.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Millions, billions and percentages: Tamil Nadu’s export performance, Lok Sabha reply of 21 July 2026 (DT Next)
- India’s total exports reach record USD 863.1 billion in 2025-26 (News On AIR)
- Tamil Nadu tops export growth at 13.7% in FY26 (DT Next)
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 2864 on SEZs in Tamil Nadu, 18 March 2025 (Ministry of Commerce)
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4254 on turmeric and carpet exports, 19 August 2025 (Ministry of Commerce)
