ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Business devider Trade deficit narrows to $4 B in December

Trade deficit narrows to $4 B in December

Published Jan 26, 2024 06:19 am

At A Glance

  • The  Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the country's trade deficit declined 11 percent to $4.01 billion in December.<br>This figure is lower than the $4.50 billion in the same month of 2022 and $4.72 billion in November.<br>The December trade balance brought the country's 2023 deficit to $52.42 billion, down from the $57.64 billion in 2022.<br>Total export sales during the month also declined 0.5 percent to $5.78 million as the value of imports also declined by 5.1 percent to $9.79 billion.<br>Other mineral products posted the highest decline in the value of exports, while mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials saw the biggest drop in imports.<br>Hong Kong and the People's Republic of China were the top exporters and suppliers in December 2023, respectively.

The country posted a lower trade deficit in December after mild contractions in exports and imports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed Friday, Jan. 26.

The trade gap, or the difference between the value of exports and imports, declined by 11 percent to $4.01 billion in December from $4.50 billion in the same month of 2022.

The December trade balance brought the country’s full-year deficit to $52.42 billion, lower than the $57.64 billion in 2022.

Total export sales during the month declined to $5.78 million, down by 0.5  percent from the $5.81 billion recorded a year earlier.

During the month, other mineral products posted the highest decline in the value of exports by $132.99 million to $155.27 million. This was followed by machinery and transport equipment by $37.69 million to $142.36 million.

Electronic equipment and parts also decreased by $24.69 million to $80.88 million, while metal components by $18.05 million to $80.88 million as well as miscellaneous manufactured articles by $14.94 million to $50.79 million.

By major trading partner, Hong Kong became the country's top export destination, accounting for about 16.5 percent or $951.14 million.

Other major export trading partners include the United States of America, Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea.

The total value of imports, on the other hand, also declined by 5.1 percent to $9.79 billion from $10.32 billion in December 2022.

The decline was attributed to the import of mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials by $472.37 million to $1.266 billion, electronic products by $328.45 million to $2.091 billion, and industrial machinery and equipment by $48.99 million to $425.37 million.

Organic and inorganic chemicals also recorded an annual decline of $45.46 million to $148.80 million while chemical materials by $41.14 million to $325.89 million.

People’s Republic of China is still the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods valued at $2.28 billion, followed by Japan, Indonesia, USA, and Thailand.

 

Related Tags

Philippine Statistics Authority Imports Exports trade deficit
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.