THE country’s agricultural imports rose by nearly 23 percent year-on-year to $19.3 billion in 2022 as the Philippines stepped up its food purchases last year, according to the latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
PSA data showed that among the major commodities imported by the country last year, cereals accounted for the largest share of import bill at $3.98 billion or 20.6 percent of the total.
Residues and waste from the food industries, meat and edible meat offal, animal or vegetable fats and oils, and miscellaneous edible preparations were the other major food imports of the country last year.
“The top 10 commodity groups in terms of value of agricultural imports was valued at $16.67 billion or 86.3 percent of the total agricultural imports’ revenue in 2022. Moreover, the combined agricultural import value of these top 10 commodity groups posted an annual increment of 25.2 percent during the year,” the PSA said.
Countries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations were from the Philippines’s top source of food imports last year. The PSA said agricultural imports from Asian member countries amounted to $6.47 billion or 16.1 percent of the country’s total imports.
“In terms of value, Indonesia was the major supplier of agricultural products to the Philippines among Asean member countries, contributing $1.78 billion or 27.6 percent of the country’s total value of agricultural imports from Asean member countries in 2022,” the PSA said.
Data from the agency also showed that the European Union supplied $1.87 billion worth of goods to the Philippines last year, or 21.8 percent of the total import bill. Among the EU member countries, Spain was the country’s top supplier of agricultural commodities with an import value of $458.25 million or a share of 24.5 percent to the country’s total value of agricultural imports from the EU.
As agricultural imports continued to outpace exports in 2022, the farm trade deficit last year widened by 32.8 percent to $11.8 billion, from the $8.88 billion registered in 2021.
PSA data showed that receipts from agricultural exports grew by 10 percent to nearly $7.5 billion last year. The top 10 commodity groups in terms of value of agricultural exports contributed $7.25 billion or 96.7 percent of the total agricultural exports’ revenue in 2022.
The combined agricultural export value of these top 10 commodity groups posted an annual increment of 11.7 percent during the year, according to the agency.
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