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Internal and International Trade

By ExamAtlas · 9/18/2026

NCERT Class 10 • Contemporary India II • Chapter "Lifelines of National Economy" | NCERT Class 12 • Fundamentals of Human Geography • Chapter "International Trade"

Internal and International Trade

Trade is the exchange of goods and services between people, states or countries. Trade within a country is internal or domestic trade; trade between countries is international trade. International trade is considered an index of a country's economic prosperity because it reflects what it can produce and what it must buy.

Exports, Imports and Balance

  • Export means goods sold to another country; import means goods bought from another country.
  • The sum of exports and imports is the country's total volume of trade.
  • Balance of trade is the difference between the value of exports and imports.
  • A favourable balance means exports exceed imports; an unfavourable or adverse balance means imports exceed exports.
  • India's main exports include engineering goods, petroleum products, gems and jewellery, chemicals, textiles, agricultural products and software services.
  • India's main imports include crude petroleum, machinery, electronic goods, gold, fertiliser and edible oil.
  • Trade with other countries happens by sea, air, land routes and, for services like software, through telecom links.

Internal Trade and Tourism

  • Internal trade moves food grain, cloth, cement, coal and consumer goods between surplus and deficit regions.
  • Good transport, storage, banking and market information are what make internal trade efficient.
  • Tourism is treated as a form of trade and is called invisible trade because it earns foreign exchange without goods crossing the border.
  • Tourism supports handicrafts, hotels, transport and guides, so it creates wide local employment.
  • India attracts visitors for heritage, eco tourism, medical treatment, business and pilgrimage.
  • Trade fairs, wholesale markets and mandis are the traditional institutions of internal trade.
  • Weak storage and poor roads raise the cost of internal trade and hurt farmers the most.
  • Trade between neighbouring countries by land route is usually cheaper than long sea routes.
TermMeaning
ExportGoods sold to another country
ImportGoods bought from another country
Balance of tradeValue of exports minus imports
Invisible tradeTrade in services such as tourism and software

Balance of trade — the difference between the value of a country's exports and its imports of goods.

Exam me kaise aata hai

  • Exports minus imports gives — balance of trade
  • When exports exceed imports the balance is — favourable
  • Tourism is called which kind of trade — invisible trade
  • Sum of exports and imports is called — total volume of trade

UPSC/State PSC ke liye

  • A large crude petroleum import bill makes India's trade balance sensitive to world oil prices, which is why energy policy is also trade policy.
  • Software and other service exports partly offset the goods trade deficit, which is why the current account picture differs from the goods balance alone.

Yahan confuse hote hain

Import means selling goods abroad | Import means buying from abroad; export is selling  |  

Unfavourable balance means low total trade | It means imports exceed exports  |  

Tourism is not trade | Tourism is invisible trade and earns foreign exchange  |  

Ek nazar me

  • Trade is internal or international.
  • Export sells abroad, import buys from abroad.
  • Balance of trade is exports minus imports.
  • Tourism is invisible trade and a large local employer.

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