MANILA – The country's trade deficit went up by 26 percent in October this year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed.
In a report released on Tuesday, the PSA said trade deficit during the month amounted to USD4.174 billion, higher than last year's USD3.313 billion.
Total external trade in goods, which amounted to USD16.90 billion, fell by 9.8 percent from the USD18.74 billion recorded in October last year.
Total exports sales declined by 17.5 percent from USD7.71 billion in October 2022 to USD6.36 billion this year.
"The commodity group with the highest annual decrement in the value of exports in October 2023 was electronic products with USD 1.48 billion," the PSA said.
This was followed by copper concentrates with an annual decline of USD43.09 million and coconut oil which fell by USD23.22 million.
By major trading partner, exports to the United States comprised the highest export value amounting to USD1.02 billion or a share of 16.0 percent to the country’s total exports in October 2023.
It was followed by Japan, People's Republic of China, Hongkong, and Republic of Korea.
The total value of imports, meanwhile, also decreased by 4.4 percent to USD10.54 billion from USD11.02 billion.
The PSA said the commodity group with the highest decline was electronic products at USD590.51 million.
"This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, which declined by USD99.34 million and other food and live animals with an annual drop of USD71.48 million," the PSA said.
China was the country's largest supplier of imported goods valued at USD2.60 billion or about 24.7 percent of the total value of imports during the month.
Other top sources of imports were Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, and the US. (PNA)
