Philippine trade deficit narrower in October

The Philippines continued to record a trade deficit in October, albeit narrower month-on-month and year-on-year, data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Tuesday showed.

The balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) — the difference between the value of exports and imports — posted a $3.306-billion deficit in October to reflect a 13.5% annual decrease.

This compares with the $4.843-billion deficit in September, and the $3.822-billion deficit in October 2021.

A trade deficit indicates that the country imported more than it shipped out goods during a period, while a surplus indicates that the country exported more than it brought in goods from other countries.

Exports grew by 20.0% to $7.695 billion from $6.412 billion the same month last year. Receipts were also higher than the $7.163 billion in September.

Increases were seen in three major commodity groups — electronic products up 39.6%, ignition wiring set up 26.1%, and machinery and transport equipment up 1.9%.

The biggest drops were in cathodes which fell by 34.5%, chemicals by 33.6%, other manufactured goods by 13.5%, other mineral products by 11.5%, and metal components by 9.0%.

Hong Kong was the biggest export partner for the month with $1.28 billion or 16.6% of the total for the month, followed by the USA with $1.18 billion, Japan with $999.67 million, China with $959.59 million, and Singapore with $438.03 million.

By economic bloc, the majority of the exports went to member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) which accounted for $6.41 billion or 83.2% of the total.

This was followed by East Asia with $3.86 billion or 50.1%, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with $1.18 billion or 15.3%.

Imports for the month increased by 7.5% to $11.002 billion from $10.234 billion in October 2021, but decreased from $12.006 billion in September.

The biggest expansions were seen in the imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap which increased by 462.7%, transport equipment up by 46.3%, other food and live animals by 40.3%, mineral fuels and lubricants by 29.7%, and miscellaneous manufactured articles by 10.2%.

The biggest annual declines were recorded in industrial machinery and equipment down 22.7%, telecommunication equipment down 16.6%, cereals and cereal preparation down 11.4%, iron and steel down 11.0%, and electronic products down 0.4%.

China remained the biggest importer of goods to the Philippines with $2.22 billion or 20.2% of imports for the month, followed by Indonesia with $1.27 billion, Japan with $1.01 billion, South Korea with $920.05 million, and USA with $767.87 million.

In terms of economic bloc, APEC member countries accounted for $9.83 billion or 85.3% of imports, followed by East Asia with $4.92 billion, and the ASEAN with $3.26 billion.

The latest figures brought the country’s total external trade in goods up 12.3% to $18.697 billion from $16.646 billion in October 2021. This is, however, lower than the $19.169 billion in September.—AOL, GMA Integrated News