EXPORT receipts declined by more than 13 percent as the value of the Philippines’s usual export winners plunged by double digits in the first quarter, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Figures from the PSA showed that export earnings in January to March fell by 13.2 percent to $16.86 billion, from last year’s $19.43 billion.
Receipts from electronic products—the country’s top export—dropped by 17.5 percent to a little over $9 billion, from $10.913 in the first quarter of 2022.
Shipments of coconut oil, the country’s top farm export, nosedived to $320.37 million, from last year’s $598.89 million.
PSA data also showed that total earnings from agro-based products were lower by nearly 19 percent during the period. Shipments of farm products reached $466.31 million.
Other commodity groups that posted significant declines in earnings are articles of apparel and clothing accessories; miscellaneous manufactured articles, travel goods and handbags, and processed tropical fruits.
The top 5 buyers of Philippine-made products in the first quarter were China, Japan, the United States, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
According to the PSA, the country’s import bill during the period slid by 3.3 percent to $31.43 billion, from last year’s $32.51 billion.
The Philippines recorded lower purchases of electronic products, iron and steel, cereals and cereal preparations, and medicinal and pharmaceutical products.
The country’s top sources of imported goods in the first quarter were China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.
The cumulative trade deficit as of the end of March widened by 11.4 percent to $14.57 billion, from the previous year’s $13.08 billion, as import payments continued to outpace export earnings.
In March alone, export sales reached $6.53 billion, 9.1 percent lower than the $7.18 billion recorded last year.
“In March 2023, the country’s total external trade in goods amounted to $17.98 billion, which indicates an annual decline of 5.1 percent from its level of $18.95 billion in the same period of the previous year. In February 2023, its annual decrease was recorded at -14.2 percent, while in March 2022, it expanded at an annual rate of 16.2 percent,” the PSA said.
Of the total external trade in March, the agency said 63.7 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods.
Image credits: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg