Income from merchandise exports for the first seven months of the year improved by 22.0 percent to $13.763 billion from $11.276 billion last year.

For July 1997 alone, export shipments posted a 21.8 percent gain as receipts reached $2.063 billion, surpassing $1.694 billion in 1996 by $369.67 million.

ELECTRONICS ACCOUNT FOR 38.0 PERCENT OF AGGREGATE

Electronics and Components, accounting for 37.9 percent of the aggregate export revenue for July 1997, remained as the top dollar-earner with receipts valued at $782.69 million or 23.3 percent higher than the year-ago level of $634.92 million.

Exports of Articles of Apparel and Clothing Accessories, cornering 11.0 percent of the total, inched up by 2.4 percent to $227.20 million from $221.92 million in 1996.

Receipts from Input/Output/Peripheral Units, representing 8.0 percent of the total, increased by 1,303.9 percent to $165.80 million from $11.81 million last year.

Still in fourth spot was Coconut Oil as receipts placed at $52.08 million grew by 15.2 percent from $45.21 million last year.

Ignition Wiring Sets and Other Wiring Sets Used in Vehicles, Aircrafts and Ships, at number five, earned $45.20 million, which was 14.4 percent higher than $39.51 million last year.

Other major exports for the month were: Woodcraft and Furniture, $40.01 million; Cathodes and Sections of Cathodes, of Refined Copper, $39.74 million; Other Products Manufactured from Materials Imported on Consignment Basis, $33.55 million; Metal Components, $29.64 million; and Gold, $28.77 million.

Combined revenue from the top ten merchandise exports amounted to $1,444.68 million or 70.0 percent of the total.

RECEIPTS FROM MANUFACTURED GOODS UP BY 25.7 PERCENT

Led by electronics, machinery and transport equipment, and garments, the value of manufactured goods which accounted for 84.7 percent of the total went up by 25.7 percent to $1.748 billion from $1.391 billion last year.

Revenue from agro-based products dropped by 18.1 percent to $156.61 million from $191.18 million in 1996.

Representing 4.4 percent of the aggregate value, mineral products, notably copper metal, posted a 98.8 percent increase to $90.58 million from $45.55 million.

US SHARE 36.7 PERCENT

Earnings from exports to the United States accounted for 36.8 percent of the total, posting a slight decrease from 37.5 percent last year. In terms of actual value, however, income from shipments to the United States grew by 19.3 percent to $757.81 million from $635.46 million in 1996.

Japan remained as the second biggest market with a 17.9 percent share as sales valued at $368.45 million increased by 31.8 percent compared to $279.57 million last year.

Singapore, accounting for 7.0 percent of the gross export revenue, bought $145.31 million worth of merchandise, which was 44.5 percent higher than $100.59 million last year.

Netherlands was the fourth biggest client with total exports valued at $100.27 million, a 12.1 percent increase over $89.44 million in 1996. This value represented 4.9 percent of the merchandise exports.

Rounding up the list of top ten markets for July 1997 were: United Kingdom of Great Britain, $95.16 million; Germany, $94.70 million; Hongkong, $83.22 million; Taiwan, $80.25 million; Thailand, $55.41 million; and, Republic of Korea, $38.37 million.

Aggregate receipts from these top ten markets amounted to $1,818.95 million or 88.2 percent of the total.