Philippine trade deficit reached $3.32 billion for January

March 9, 2018

The Philippines posted a trade deficit for January with $3.32 billion in January as exports grew 0.5 percent year-on-year to $5.22 billion and imports climbed 11.4 percent to $8.54 billion, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.

Total external trade in goods grew seven percent to $13.75 billion.

The trade deficit in January 2017 was $2.47 billion while the gap as of December 2017 was at $4.02 billion.

Electronic products continued to be the top export earner reaching $2.62 billion and  accounting for 50.3 percent share of the total exports revenue in January.  Imports of raw materials and intermediate goods accounted  for the  largest share of 40.9 percent to total  imports.

This item went up by 14.9 percent to $3.49 billion in January 2018 from $3.04 billion

Japan, including Okinawa ranked first with $895.04 million or 17.2 percent share of the total exports.  It increased by 0.7 percent from $888.97 million posted in January 2017.

China was the country’s biggest source of imports with 18.9 percent share.  Import payments to this country stood at $1.61 billion, posting an increase of 3.5 percent from $1.56 billion in January 2017. DMS