January to December total trade stands at $68.537 billion

Total external trade in goods for January to December 2002 amounted to $68.537 billion or 11.1 percent higher than $61.701 billion in 2001. The bill for foreign-made merchandise grew up by 13.3 percent to $33.471 billion from $29.551 billion. Likewise, exports posted a year-on-year growth rate of 9.1 percent to an aggregate dollar revenue of $5.066 billion from $32.150 billion a year ago. Balance of trade surplus for the Philippines reached $1.595 billion or 38.7 percent lower than last year's $2.599 billion.

Figure 1A. Philippine Trade Performance in January - December: 2001 and 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Figure 1B. Philippine Trade Performance in December: 2001 and 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Note: The figures for electronics components in this summary report are still based on the "old series", that is, without adjusting for understatement. These will be revised after the release of the 2002 adjusted figures.

December imports went up by 19.8 percent

Total merchandise trade for December 2002 increased by 14.5 percent to $5.480 billion from $4.788 billion during the same period a year earlier. Dollar-inflow generated by exports amounted to $2.914 billion, or 10.1 percent higher than last year's $2.645 billion. On the other hand, expenditures for imported goods moved up by 19.8 percent to $2.567 billion from $2.143 billion. The BOT-G surplus registered $347 million, or 31.0 percent lower compared to last year's $503 million.

Electronics and components account for 24.4 percent of import bill

Accounting for 24.4 percent of the total aggregate import bill, payments for electronics and components amounted to $626.31 million or 58.2 percent higher than last year's $395.84 million. Compared to the previous month, dollar-outflow decreased by 21.0 percent from $792.77 million.

Purchases of office and EDP machines ranked second with 10.3 percent share. Payments made placed at $264.11 million, registered a 34.0 percent increase over the previous level which stood at $197.08 million.

Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, the third top import reported purchases worth $230.98 million, or a 9.5 percent increase from $210.91 million last year.

Telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery accounting for 7.6 percent of the total import bill, ranked fourth as payments amounted to $194.45 million, down by 9.9 percent from last year's $215.86 million.

Expenditures for transport equipment, contributing 5.2 percent share to the aggregate bill, increased by 13.1 percent to $132.26 million from $116.96 million in December 2001.

Industrial machinery and equipment, contributing 4.1 percent to the total bill, was RP's sixth top import for the month with payments posted at $105.31 million or 6.0 percent drop than last year�s $112.07 million.

Rounding up the list of the top imports for December 2002 were: textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products, $82.58 million; iron and steel, $78.34 million; materials/accessories imported on consignment basis for the manufacture of other electrical and electronic machinery and equipment, $67.59 million; and cereals and cereal preparations, $63.23 million.

Aggregate payment for the country's top ten imports for December 2002 amounted to $1.845 billion or 71.9 percent of the total bill.

Figure 2. Philippine Top Imports in December 2001 and 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Capital goods account for 42.8 percent of the total import bill

Capital goods comprising 42.8 percent of the aggregate bill went up by 21.5 percent year-on-year to $1.097 billion from $902.96 million. The group was led bytelecommunication equipment and electrical machinery valued at $562.0 million or a 21.9 percent share of the total.

Payments for raw materials and intermediate goods consisting of unprocessed raw materials and semiprocessed raw materials accounted for 37.3 percent of the aggregate bill as importation grew by 20.6 percent to $956.59 million from last year's figure at $793.50 million.

Expenditures for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials increased by 9.5 percent to $230.98 million from $210.91 million during the same period last year.

Purchases of consumer goods valued at $205.14 million, posted an 8.5 percent gain from $188.99 million in December 2001, while special transactions grew by 65.0 percent to $76.70 million from $46.48 million.

Figure 3. Philippine Imports by Major Type of Goods in December: 2001 and 2002
(F.O.B. Value in Million US Dollar)

Japan corners 21.5 percent of December import bill

Imports from Japan accounting for 21.5 percent of the total import bill, rose by 16.5 percent to $551.10 million from $473.16 million a year earlier. On the other hand, exports to Japan, amounted to $462.07 million yielding a two-way trade value of $1.013 billion and a trade deficit for RP placed at $89.02 million.

US, the country's second biggest source of imports with an 18.9 percent share, reported shipments valued at $484.34 million against exports amounting to $686.11 million. Total trade amounted to $1.170 billion while the trade surplus in favor of the Philippines was placed at $201.77 million.

Singapore, followed as RP's third biggest source of imports. With payments worth $171.13 million, imports from Singapore increased by 28.8 percent from $132.92 million while revenue from RP's exports reached $200.01 million resulting to a total trade value of $371.13 million and a $28.88 million surplus for RP.

Other major sources of imports for the month of December were: ; Republic of Korea, $151.89 million; Taiwan, $114.55 million; Hong Kong, $113.27 million; Saudi Arabia, $109.24 million; People's Republic of China, $108.72 million; Thailand, $79.55 million; and Malaysia, $75.48 million.

Payments for imports from the top ten sources for the month amounted to $1.959 billion or 76.3 percent of the total.

Figure 4. Philippine Imports by Country in December: 2002

As of press time 12 out of 60,431 export documents and 37 out of 59,627 import documents are still expected from the ports.

Source:   National Statistics Office
                 Manila, Philippines