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MANILA – The country’s external trade in November 2022 eased on month-on-month basis, but trade deficit slightly went up.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Tuesday that the country’s total trade in November amounted to USD17.88 billion, lower by 4.5 percent from the previous month’s external trade of USD18.73 billion.
Despite the decline in total trade during the month, balance of trade in goods incurred a higher deficit amounting to USD3.68 billion from USD3.31 billion in October 2022.
Both exports and imports decreased in November.
Export revenues fell by 7.9 percent month-on-month to USD7.1 billion from USD7.7 billion, while imports slipped by 2.2 percent to USD10.78 billion from USD11.02 billion.
Year-on-year, total trade in November rose by 3.6 percent from USD17.26 billion in the same month in 2021.
Trade deficit narrowed by 21.9 percent from USD4.71 billion in November 2021.
For the same period, exports rose 13.2 percent from USD6.27 billion while imports slipped by 1.9 percent from USD10.98 billion.
“Of the top 10 major commodity groups, five recorded annual increases in terms of the value of exports,” PSA said.
Leading the exports growth in November last year were mineral products, increasing by 51 percent; ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships, up by 23.1 percent; electronic products, up by 22.9 percent; cathodes and sections of cathode, of refined copper, up by 8.7 percent; and other manufactured goods, up by 4.8 percent.
Biggest losers in export revenues were coconut oil, which plunged by 35.2 percent; metal components, down by 19.2 percent; and chemicals, down by 15.1 percent.
Electronic products remained the Philippines’ top export in November 2022, accounting for 64.3 percent of the total export revenues.
“The year-to-date annual total export earnings --that is from January to November 2022-- amounted to USD73.17 billion. This represents an annual increase of 7.0 percent from the year-to-date annual total export value of USD68.37 billion in January to November 2021,” PSA added.
Top export destinations for Philippine goods in November last year were Hong Kong, United States, Japan, China and Singapore.
Meanwhile, imports declined in November 2022 mainly due to the 10.1-percent decrease in imports of electronic products, which was also the top imported goods in the said month.
Other major commodity groups that contributed to the decline include transport equipment, down by 8.8 percent; cereals and cereal preparation, down by 5.9 percent; and industrial machinery and equipment, down by 3.5 percent.
Top import sources of the country in November 2022 were China, Indonesia, Japan, US and South Korea. (PNA)
