Philippine trade gap 120% wider in November 2021 —PSA

The Philippine trade gap more than doubled in November 2021 as the growth of imports for the month exceeded that of exports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released on Tuesday revealed.

The balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) in November 2021 amounted to a deficit of $4.706 billion, up 119.5% from the $2.144-billion deficit in November 2020, and wider than October's $4.018-billion deficit.

A deficit indicates that the value of a country's imports exceeded export receipts, while a surplus indicates more export shipments than imports.

Imports for the month stood at $10.979 billion, up 36.8% from the $8.026 billion in November, and higher than the $10.430 billion in the previous month

Increases were recorded in all of the top 10 major commodity groups, led by medicinal and pharmaceutical products up by 231.1%%, followed by minerals fuels, lubricants, and related materials up by 132.4%, transport equipment by 50.9%, and industrial machinery and equipment by 23.4%.

Double-digit growth was also recorded in the imports of other food and live animals; miscellaneous manufactured articles; and electronic products for the month.

China accounted for the biggest share of the imported goods for the month with $2.28 billion or 20.8% of the total, followed by South Korea with 10.0% or $1.10 billion, Japan with 9% or $1.08 billion, Indonesia with 8.4% or $924.35 million, and Thailand with 6.1% or $671.56 million.

Meanwhile, exports for the month were recorded at $6.273 billion or 6.6% higher than the $5.882 billion the same month last year.

Six of the 10 major commodity groups recorded annual increases, led by coconut oil, which grew by 95.0%; followed by electronic equipment and parts by 33.9%; chemicals by 31.8%; other manufactured goods by 15.1%; other mineral products by 5.7%; and electronic products by 5.6%.

Declines were seen in the exports of ignition wiring sets; machinery and transport equipment; metal components; and cathodes and sections of cathodes.

Total trade for November increased by 24.0% to $17.252 billion from $13.909 billion the previous year, and higher than the $16.842 billion the month earlier. —KBK, GMA News