Philippine trade gap narrowed to $3.511B in September — PSA

The Philippine trade deficit narrowed in September as exports contracted at a slower pace than imports, government data released on Tuesday showed.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) posted a deficit of $3.511 billion in September, lower than the $4.131- billion deficit in August and the $4.828-billion deficit the previous year.

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

Exports for the month declined by 6.3% to $6.728 billion from $7.182 billion the previous year, and down from $6.702 billion in August.

The biggest decreases were seen in electronic products which fell by $424.39 million, other manufactured goods down $48.60 million, other mineral products down $36.54 million, coconut oil down $27.92 million, and miscellaneous manufactured articles down $24.32 million.

Exports of manufactured goods contributed the largest to the total exports in September with $5.56 billion or 82.7%, followed by mineral products with $619.05 million or 9.2%, and total agro-based products with $393.27 million or 5.8%.

Shipments to the United States of America accounted for the highest export value with $1.06 billion, followed by China with $1.05 billion, Japan with $898.94 million, Hong Kong with $836.17 million, and South Korea with $306.54 million.

Imports for the month stood at $10.239 billion, down from $10.833 billion in August and 14.7% lower than the $12.011 billion in September 2022.

The biggest drop was seen in electronic products which fell by $765.15 million; mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials down $564.30 million; organic and inorganic chemicals down $124.93 million; other food and live animals down $99.81 million; and plastics down $58.53 million.

Imports of raw materials and intermediate goods accounted for the biggest share with $3.60 billion or 35.2%, capital goods with $2.99 billion or 29.2%, and consumer goods with $2.12 billion or 20.7%.

China was the biggest source of imports with $2.63 billion, followed by Indonesia with $902.56 million, Thailand with $840.32 million, Japan with $833.15 million, and South Korea with $696.29 million.

The latest figures brought total trade for the month to $16.968 billion in September, down from $17.535 billion in August and an 11.6% reduction from $19.194 billion the same month last year. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News