PHL exports sag 3% in December

 

The value of Philippine exports amounted to $4.660 billion in December 2015, a 3 percent decline from $4.802 billion a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Wednesday.

"The negative growth was mainly brought about by the decreases in six major commodities out of the top ten commodities for the month," the PSA noted.

"These include articles of apparel and clothing accessories (-42.7 percent), chemicals (-39.2 percent), other manufactures (-23.8 percent), machinery and transport equipment (-17.0 percent), metal components (-16.5 percent), and electronic equipment and parts (-5.3 percent)," the statistics office added.

Total merchandise exports for the whole of 2015 registered a 5.6 percent decline to $58.648 billion from $62.102 billion.

Electronic products remained the county's top export product, with total receipts of $2.529 billion. This accounted for the bulk or 54.3 percent of total exports for December.

A fifth of the goods the Philippines shipped out went to Japan, the top destination of Filipino amounting to $939.17 million or 20.2 percent of the total shipments. –with Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News