External trade up 3% in September

The country’s total external trade in goods went up by 3.0 percent to USD17.60 billion in September this year from USD17.09 billion in the same month last year, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed.

In a report, the PSA said that of the total external trade during the month, 64.4 percent were imported goods, while the remaining 35.6 percent were exported goods.

Export sales reached USD6.26 million, lower by 7.6 percent from the USD6.77 billion in the same month of the previous year.

For the first nine months of the year, export sales, however, increased by 1 percent to 55.67 billion from USD55.08 billion in January to September 2023.

The PSA said electronic products recorded the highest annual decline in the value of exports in September, followed by copper concentrates, and cathodes, and sections of cathodes, of refined copper.

Electronic products, however, continued to be the country’s top exports during the month with total earnings of USD3.15 billion or 50.3 percent of the country’s total exports.

“This was followed by other manufactured goods with an export value of USD506.69 million (8.1 percent), and other mineral products with USD330.23 million (5.3 percent),” said the PSA.

By major trading partner, exports to the United States comprised the highest export value amounting to USD1.08 billion.

Other major export trading partners during the month were Hongkong, Japan, People’s Republic of China and Republic of Korea.

The value of imports, meanwhile, went up by 9.9 percent to USD11.34 billion from USD10.32 billion last year.

The year-to-date annual total import value also slightly went up to USD95.07 billion from USD94.49 billion in January to September 2023.

“The commodity group with the highest import value in September 2024 was electronic products, which amounted to USD2.40 billion or a share of 21.2 percent to the country’s total imports,” said the PSA.

This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials and transport equipment.

China remained the country’s largest supplier of imported goods valued at USD2.84 billion or 25 percent of the country’s total imports in September 2024.

Other major import sources include Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

Meanwhile, the PSA said the balance of trade in goods or the difference between the value of exports and imports amounted to USD5.09 billion, up 43.4 percent from the USD3.54 billion trade gap in September 2023. PNA