Imports continued to outpace the country’s exports, resulting in a much wider trade deficit in August this year, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
The PSA said on Tuesday, Oct. 11, that the country’s trade gap, or the difference between the value of export and import, jumped 81 percent to $6 billion in August from $3.3 billion in the same month last year.
Month-on-month, the trade deficit inched up from $5.98 billion in July.
In August, export sales declined two percent to $6.41 billion from $6.54 billion in the previous year. However, it increased from $6.22 billion in the previous month.
Of the top 10 major commodity exports groups, four recorded decreases in terms of the value of exports.
These were other mineral products (-23.8 percent), chemicals (-9.5 percent), machinery and transport equipment (-2.4 percent), and electronic products (-1.6 percent).
By major trading partner, exports to United States of America (USA) comprised the highest export value amounting to $1.05 billion or a share of 16.3 percent to the total.
Completing the top five were Japan, $931.35 million; People’s Republic of China, $839.18 million; Hong Kong, $729.34 million; and Singapore, $433.89 million.
In the first eight-months, total export earnings reached $51.16 billion, higher by four percent compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, import receipts jumped 26 percent to $12.4 billion from $9.85 billion in August 2021. Month-on-month, it increased from $12.2 billion in July.
The growth in the value of imported goods was mainly due to the increases in the values of all the top 10 major commodity groups, with transport equipment having the fastest annual growth rate of 75.8 percent.
It was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, which rose by 75.6 percent annually; and other food and live animals by 43 percent.
During the month, the People’s Republic of China was the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods valued at $2.71 billion or 21.8 percent of the total.
Completing the top five major import trading partners were Indonesia, $1.35 billion; Japan, $1 billion; Republic of Korea, $939.10 million; and Singapore, $853.78 million.
At end-August, imports amounted to $92.97 billion, up 26 percent from $73.77 billion in the same period last year.