Nepal's exports reached Rs 315.29 billion in FY 2025/26, up 13.81% from the year before. But "what does Nepal actually export" is a more interesting question than the headline number suggests — the answer ranges from a refined cooking oil business that depends entirely on imported raw material, to a hydropower export trade that barely existed five years ago, to centuries-old handicraft traditions that are now struggling against global competition. Here's the real top-10 list, based on Department of Customs and Nepal Electricity Authority data.
Nepal's Export Basket at a Glance
According to the Department of Customs, the official top 10 merchandise export products for FY 2025/26 were soybean oil, large cardamom, woollen carpets, sunflower oil, jute fabrics, refined palm oil, blended polyester yarn, single polyester yarn, felt products, and fruit juice. Electricity doesn't appear on that particular list because it's tracked separately by the Nepal Electricity Authority rather than as customs-cleared merchandise — but in foreign-currency-earning terms, it now ranks among Nepal's most significant export categories.
1. Refined Soybean Oil (The Re-Export Story Explained)
Soybean oil is Nepal's largest single export item by a wide margin, generating Rs 128.74 billion in FY 2025/26. The catch: Nepal doesn't grow soybeans at commercial scale. Refiners import crude soybean oil — largely from Argentina and other South American producers — process it domestically, and export the refined product, mostly to India, taking advantage of favourable tariff treatment under the Nepal-India Treaty of Trade. It's a legitimate business generating real foreign currency and real jobs in the refining sector, but it's fundamentally a processing margin on imported raw material rather than a product built on Nepal's own agricultural base.
2. Electricity to India
Nepal earned a record Rs 29.32 billion from electricity exports to India and Bangladesh in FY 2025/26, up 68% from the previous year, as surplus monsoon-season hydropower found buyers through the Indian Energy Exchange and a power-sale agreement with India's NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam. Export volume rose to 3.877 billion units, sold at an average price of Rs 7.56 per unit. With imports falling at the same time, Nepal recorded a net electricity trade surplus of Rs 18.76 billion — making hydropower arguably the most promising genuinely domestic export category Nepal currently has.
3. Woolen Carpets
Once one of Nepal's flagship exports, hand-knotted woolen carpets have had a difficult run — exports fell an estimated 26.3% in FY 2025/26, continuing a longer pattern of decline in the handicraft-export sector. The industry, historically a major employment generator, faces competition from lower-cost producers elsewhere and a shrinking pool of skilled artisans. Germany, the United States, and other European markets remain the primary buyers of genuine hand-knotted Nepali carpets.
4. Pashmina & Textiles
Pashmina has held up better than most other handicraft categories, with exports rising 5.8% in FY 2025/26 to Rs 317.3 million. The "Chyangra Pashmina" brand, backed by geographical indication (GI) certification, has helped protect authenticity in markets where counterfeit "pashmina" products are common. Germany, the United States, and Japan remain key buyers of genuine Nepali pashmina shawls, scarves, and jerseys.
5. Handicrafts
Metal and wooden handicrafts, along with related artisanal categories, have seen some of the sharpest declines in Nepal's export basket in recent periods, with certain sub-categories to markets like China falling by more than 90% year-on-year in specific reporting periods. Rising input costs, limited production capacity, and competition from mass-manufactured alternatives elsewhere in the region are the most commonly cited pressures on this sector.
6. Tea (Orthodox & Nepal Ilam Tea)
Tea exports have been volatile — after surging roughly 87% in the previous fiscal year, exports reportedly plunged around 41% in FY 2025/26. Nepal produces both CTC (crush-tear-curl) tea, which trades at lower per-kilogram prices, and high-grown orthodox tea from districts like Ilam, which commands a significant premium — often several times the CTC price — in export markets including Germany, Japan, and the UK.
7. Large Cardamom
Nepal is one of the world's significant producers of large cardamom, and this single commodity generated over Rs 12 billion in export earnings in FY 2025/26, nearly double the prior year's full-year total. Cardamom remains one of the few genuinely domestically-grown, high-value agricultural exports that has shown consistent, strong growth rather than relying on re-exported raw material.
8. Readymade Garments
Readymade garment exports rose a modest 2.5% in FY 2025/26 to Rs 519.4 million, a small but notable sign of stabilisation after a longer period of decline in Nepal's textile and apparel sector. The industry still serves markets like the United States, Canada, and several European countries, but faces the same underlying challenges as carpets and handicrafts: competition from lower-cost regional manufacturers and the need for modernisation and market diversification to regain momentum.
9. Medicinal Herbs & NTFPs
Nepal's biodiversity supports a wide range of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and medicinal herbs — essential oils, yarsagumba (caterpillar fungus, prized in East Asian markets), broom grass, and various plant extracts. Yarsagumba alone found buyers in Hong Kong worth several hundred million rupees in recent reporting. However, this category has generally shown sluggish or declining export volumes in recent periods, constrained by sustainable harvesting limits, quality certification requirements, and inconsistent international demand.
10. Juice & Processed Foods
Fruit juice appears among the Department of Customs' official top-10 export products for FY 2025/26, alongside other processed food items. This category also includes an unusual but genuinely significant entrant: churpi, a hardened yak-milk cheese sold internationally as a pet treat, which alone earned Nepal roughly Rs 4.18 billion from exports to the United States — a reminder that some of Nepal's fastest-growing export niches don't fit the traditional "spices and textiles" narrative at all.
Which Export Categories Are Growing Fastest?
Electricity is the standout, up 68% in FY 2025/26. Pashmina and readymade garments posted modest but genuine gains. On the other side, several traditional handicraft and agro-processing categories — tea, woollen carpets, and silverware/jewellery (down 35.9% to Rs 1.15 billion) — declined meaningfully, underlining a broader pattern: Nepal's newer, infrastructure-linked exports (hydropower) and its edible-oil re-export business are carrying export growth, while many of its historic, artisan-based export categories are losing ground.
FAQs
What is Nepal's single largest export product?
Refined soybean oil, generating Rs 128.74 billion in FY 2025/26 — though it depends on imported crude oil rather than domestic soybean production.
Is electricity really one of Nepal's top exports?
Yes, in value terms — Nepal earned Rs 29.32 billion from electricity exports in FY 2025/26 — though it's tracked by the Nepal Electricity Authority separately from the Department of Customs' merchandise export statistics.
Which Nepali export product is growing fastest?
Electricity exports to India and Bangladesh grew 68% year-on-year in FY 2025/26, the fastest growth among major export categories.
Why are carpet and handicraft exports declining?
Industry sources point to rising input and labour costs, competition from lower-cost overseas producers, and a shrinking base of skilled artisans as the main pressures on Nepal's traditional handicraft export sector.
Discussion