TL;DR: India’s software services exports grew from ₹9.12 lakh crore in 2019-20 to ₹19.56 lakh crore in 2025-26, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 13.6%. IT services led this growth, increasing by around 127%. Europe’s share of exports rose from 27.62% to 31.77%, while the combined share of the United States and Canada fell from 58.06% to 55.45%. North America remained the largest destination grouping. Most exports (84.70%) were delivered cross-border in 2025-26, according to the RBI’s mode-wise breakdown, which includes commercial presence.

Context

Software services are a critical part of India’s services exports. They include IT services, software product development, business process outsourcing (BPO) and engineering services. Indian companies provide these services to businesses around the world, from developing software products to managing business operations and technical processes.

On 18 September 2026, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released the results of its annual Survey on Computer Software and Information Technology Enabled Services Exports for 2025-26. The survey examines India’s software services exports by activity, destination, type of service delivery and mode of supply.

For the 2025-26 survey, the RBI contacted 7,569 software export companies. Of these, 2,363 responded, including most of the large companies. The participating companies accounted for around 89% of estimated software services exports.

According to the RBI, software services exports excluding sales through overseas commercial presence stood at ₹19.56 lakh crore, or US$221.4 billion, in 2025-26. Including commercial presence through foreign affiliates, the total was ₹21.14 lakh crore, or US$239.3 billion.

Who Compiles This Data?
The Reserve Bank of India conducts this survey on computer software and IT-enabled services exports to collect information about India’s software services industry and its international operations.

Where can I download Clean & Structured Data on Software Exports?

Clean, structured and ready-to-use datasets on India's software services exports can be downloaded from Dataful.

Key Insights

India's Software Services Exports Have More Than Doubled Since 2019-20

India’s software services exports increased from ₹9.12 lakh crore in 2019-20 to ₹19.56 lakh crore in 2025-26, as per the survey. This represents growth of approximately 114.5% over six years, equivalent to a compound annual growth rate of around 13.6%.

IT services remained the largest category throughout the period. Their value increased from ₹5.72 lakh crore in 2019-20 to ₹12.99 lakh crore in 2025-26, an increase of approximately 127%. This was faster than the overall growth in software services exports.

BPO services also expanded, increasing from ₹2.36 lakh crore to ₹4.95 lakh crore. Engineering services increased from ₹0.68 lakh crore to ₹1.06 lakh crore, while software product development exports rose from ₹0.35 lakh crore to ₹0.57 lakh crore.

However, growth was not uniform across categories. In 2025-26, software product development exports declined from ₹57,659 crore to ₹56,549 crore, a fall of approximately 1.9% compared with the previous year.

The figures indicate that IT services have been the principal driver of export growth. Software product development remains a much smaller category.

Europe Gains Share in India's Software Export Destinations

Europe’s share of India’s software services exports increased from approximately 27.62% in 2019-20 to 31.78% in 2025-26, an increase of about 4.15 percentage points. Asia’s share declined from 7.04% to 6.26%, while Australia and New Zealand fell from 3.03% to 2.50%. Other countries accounted for approximately 4.25% of exports in 2019-20 and 4.02% in 2025-26.

The combined share of the United States and Canada declined from approximately 58.06% to 55.45%, a decrease of around 2.61 percentage points. Despite this decline, North America remained the largest destination grouping in the survey.

The United States and Canada are reported together in the 2019-20 data but separately in 2025-26. Combining their 2025-26 values allows for a more consistent comparison across the two years.

These figures suggest a shift in the distribution of India’s software export markets, with Europe gaining share while North America’s share declined. However, the data does not establish why these changes occurred. They could reflect differences in demand growth across markets or changes in the composition of exports.

Cross-border Supply Dominates India's Software Exports

Cross-border supply accounted for 84.7% of India’s software services exports in 2025-26 under the RBI’s mode-wise measure.  The presence of natural persons accounted for 7.71%, while commercial presence accounted for 7.48%. Consumption abroad represented 0.12%.

These modes describe different ways of supplying services internationally. Cross-border supply involves delivering a service from one country to a customer in another. Commercial presence involves supplying services through a business establishment in the destination market, while the presence of natural persons involves individuals travelling abroad to provide services.

The distribution shows that remote, cross-border delivery dominates India’s software services exports. At the same time, the other modes represent additional ways in which Indian businesses serve overseas markets.

The totals used for these breakdowns differ. The activity-wise and destination-wise figures use the export total of ₹19.56 lakh crore, which excludes overseas commercial presence. The mode-wise breakdown includes commercial presence and uses the broader total of ₹21.14 lakh crore, or US$239.3 billion, reported by the RBI for 2025-26.

Why Does It Matter? 

India’s software export growth has been led by IT services, which increased by approximately 127% between 2019-20 and 2025-26, faster than the 114.5% increase in the overall activity-wise total. This highlights the importance of IT services to the sector’s expansion. Software product development exports, however, declined in the latest year, a development worth monitoring in future releases rather than treating as evidence of a sustained downturn.

The destination data also points to a change in market composition. Europe’s share rose by around 4.15 percentage points, while the combined share of the United States and Canada fell by approximately 2.61 percentage points. North America nevertheless remained the largest destination grouping. Meanwhile, the dominance of cross-border supply shows that India’s software export model continues to rely primarily on delivering services remotely across national borders.

Key Numbers (2019-20 vs 2025-26)

• Total exports: ₹9.12 lakh crore → ₹19.56 lakh crore

• Annualised growth: Approximately 13.6% CAGR

• IT services: ₹5.72 lakh crore → ₹12.99 lakh crore

• BPO services: ₹2.36 lakh crore → ₹4.95 lakh crore

• Europe’s share: 27.62% → 31.78%

• United States and Canada’s combined share: 58.06% → 55.45%

• Export delivery modes (2025-26): Cross-border supply 84.70%, natural persons 7.71%, commercial presence 7.48%, consumption abroad 0.12%