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The Philippines’ trade gap widened by 2% to $5.74 billion in January, largely on account of a 13.5% drop in exports
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Imports rebounded, growing by 3.9%
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External trade contracted 2.4%
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China remained the country’s biggest supplier while Japan was the top export destination
The Philippines’ trade deficit widened by 27.2% to $5.74 billion in January, largely on account of a double-digit dip in exports, according to preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Exports declined 13.5% to $5.23 billion from $6.046 billion in January 2022 while imports–after two consecutive months of decline–rebounded to $10.97 billion, up 3.9% from $10.559 billion in January 2022.
This brought external trade to $16.20 billion, 2.4% lower than the $16.6 billion posted in January 2022, the second month-on-month decline since February 2021.
Of the total external trade in January, 67.7% comprised imported goods while the rest were exported goods.
The increase in imports came from the free-on-board (FOB) value growth of seven of the top 10 major commodity groups, with metalliferous ores and metal scraps recording the fastest year-on-year increase of 333.5%.
This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, which increased 70.6% year-on-year, and telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, which gained 15.2%.
Meanwhile, of the top 10 major commodity groups in terms of FOB value of exports, six decreased year-on-year in January 2023. These were coconut oil, down 39.1%; cathodes and sections of cathodes of refined copper (-39.0%); metal components, (-19.8%); electronic products, (-19.2%); chemicals, (-14.6%); and other manufactured goods, (-11.9%).
By commodity group, electronic products remained the country’s top export in January 2023 with total earnings of $2.83 billion, accounting for 54.2% of the total.
Electronic products were still the top imported commodity, with value of $2.44 billion, or a 22.2% share of the total in January.
By major type of goods, imports of raw materials and intermediate goods still accounted for the largest share with total value of $3.91 billion, or a 35.6% share. For exports, manufactured goods had the largest contribution at $4.17 billion, or a 79.8% share of the total.
China remained the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods, which were valued at $2.32 billion, or 21.1% of the total imports in January 2023.
Indonesia came next with $1.16 billion, 10.6% of total imports; Japan, $958.70 million, or 8.7%; South Korea, $866.19 million, or 7.9%; and the United States, $696.99 million, or 6.4%.
For exports, Japan was the largest market, accounting for $866.25 million, or a share of 16.6% of the total. It was followed by the US with $738.26 million, or a 14.1% share; China, $666.99 million, or 12.7%; Hong Kong, $530.16 million, or 10.1%; and Singapore, $318.47 million, 6.1%.
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