India Imports 945,000 Tonnes of Chickpeas from Australia by March

15-May-2026 12:25 PM

Brisbane. Much like the previous marketing season, India remains the largest buyer of Australian chickpeas in the 2025-26 marketing season (October–September). Data from the government agency—the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)—reveals that during the first half of the current marketing season (i.e., October 2025 to March 2026), Australia exported a total of 1,459,514 tonnes of chickpeas, of which 945,421 tonnes were shipped to India alone.

India imported 640,180 tonnes of *Desi* chickpeas from Australia during the October–December 2025 quarter, while 70,638 tonnes were imported in January 2026, 227,624 tonnes in February, and 6,979 tonnes in March 2026. Indeed, it is primarily due to India's demand and procurement that Australia is witnessing such robust exports of chickpeas. However, producers there have now begun to withhold their remaining stocks of chickpeas. It is worth noting that Australia continues to be the world's leading exporter of chickpeas.

During the six-month period from October 2025 to March 2026, Australia shipped 215,368 tonnes of chickpeas to Bangladesh, 202,151 tonnes to Pakistan, and 55,324 tonnes to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while smaller quantities were exported to several other countries.

In India, the import of chickpeas dropped significantly in March—narrowing down to just 7,000 tonnes—owing to the strong arrival of the new domestic crop and the subsequent softening and stabilization of prices. Sowing for the upcoming chickpea crop has already commenced in Australia, while India is currently witnessing a healthy influx of new produce.