Philippine trade gap widens to $4.7B in January

The country’s trade deficit widened by double digits in January as the increase in imports continued to outpace growth in exports, government data showed.

Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the balance of trade in goods deficit amounted to $4.695 billion, up 63.2% from $2.877 billion in January 2021.

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

Meanwhile, total external trade in goods—the sum of imports and exports—stood at $16.78 billion, up 20% from $13.97 billion in January 2020, 64% of which were imports, while the remaining 36% were exports.

Total imports for January 2022 amounted to $10.74 billion, while total exports reached $6.043 billion.

Imports rose 27.5% year-on-year to $8.42 billion, marking the 12th consecutive month of positive annual growth.

The growth in imports was due to the increase of nine of the top 10 major commodity groups, which was led by medicinal and pharmaceutical products with a 240.9% annual increase. 

Mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials climbed 97.2% annually, while transport equipment grew 46.2%.

China was the country’s biggest source of imported goods valued at $2.07 billion, or 19.3% of the total imports in January 2022.

South Korea, with $1.06 billion or 9.8% of total imports, Japan, with $946.92 million or 8.8%, the United States, with $765.02 million or 7.1%, and Singapore, with $616.74 million or 5.7%, rounded out the top five major import trading partners.

Exports for January 2022 grew 8.9% from $5.546 billion, marking the 11th straight month of positive annual growth.

Coconut oil had a 110.1% increase in annual exports, followed by other manufactured goods (53.4%); cathodes and sections of cathodes of refined copper (46%); electronic products (8.2%); and electronic equipment and parts (6.8%).

The US is the top export destination with exports amounting to $934.77 million or 15.5% of the total.

China came in second with $885.06 million, or 14.6% of the total, followed by Japan with $826.59 million, or 13.7%, Hong Kong with $738.94 million, or 12.2%, and Singapore with $413.54 million, or 6.8%. — VBL, GMA News