India’s Integration into the World Economy – Intensifying, but Still Ample Potential for Improvement

With respect to its GDP of markedly more than USD 2,000 bn, India is the seventh largest economy in the world, with respect to population it is even the second largest. Therefore, India has a substantial market potential. The authors analyze in how far the fast growing Indian economy has unexploited options to integrate itself into the international division of labor, to what extent India is actually integrated into the world economy, and what are the country’s regional and sectoral trade patterns. So far, India is trading intensely with some specific partners, the USA and particularly the Arabian countries, and with crude oil, oil products, and intermediate and finalized products of the jewelry industry. However, European partners are only of minor importance.