The country's external trade in goods rose 1.8% in August to $17.87 billion from $17.56 billion in the same month last year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
According to PSA data, 62.2% of total external trade in August involved imported goods, while 37.8% involved exported goods. The total value of exports amounted to $6.75 billion, up 0.3% from $6.73 billion in August last year.
Other manufactured goods recorded the highest increase in export value, followed by copper concentrates and machinery and transport equipment. Electronic products continued to be the country's top exports by commodity group in August 2024, accounting for about 52.9% or $3.57 billion. This was followed by other manufactured goods, which had an export value of $578.16 million, and other mineral products, which had an export value of $272.16 million.
By major trading partner, exports to the United States had the highest export value, amounting to $1.22 billion, followed by Hong Kong, Japan, the People's Republic of China, and Korea.
Meanwhile, the total value of imports amounted to $11.12 billion, up 2.7% from $10.83 billion in August last year. "In August 2024, the commodity group with the highest annual increment in the value of imported goods was electronic products with $201.44 million," the PSA said. This was followed by the transport of equipment and plastics in primary and non-primary forms.
The PSA said China was the biggest supplier of imported goods, amounting to $2.79 billion or 25.1% of the country's total imports in August. Other most significant sources of imports were Indonesia, Korea, Japan, and the US.
Meanwhile, the PSA said the balance of trade in goods or the difference between the value of exports and imports amounted to $4.38 billion, up 6.6 percent from the $4.1 billion deficit in August 2023.
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