Notes:
      Growth rates may have slight deviations in the decimal place due to rounding off.
      p – preliminary, r – revised

      Notes:
       Growth rates may have slight deviations in the decimal place due to rounding off.
       p – preliminary

 

       Notes:
        Growth rates may have slight deviations in the decimal place due to rounding off.

        p – preliminary   

 

The country’s total external trade in goods in June 2019 amounted to $14.49 billion, reflecting a decrease of 5.8 percent from the $15.39 billion external trade in the same month of the previous year. Of the total external trade, $6.01 billion or 41.5 percent were exported goods and $8.48 billion or 58.5 percent were imported goods.

The country’s balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) decreased to $2.47 billion deficit in June 2019, from $3.55 billion deficit in June 2018.  (see Tables 1, 2 and 3)

1. Exports increase by 1.5 percent while imports decrease by 10.4 percent

The country’s total export sales in June 2019 was $6.01 billion, reflecting an increase of 1.5 percent from the $5.92 billion total export sales in June 2018. This was due to the increases in export sales of the seven of the top 10 major export commodities, namely, cathodes and section of cathodes, of refined copper (41.7%); fresh bananas (24.4%); ignition wiring set and other wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships (17.6%); gold (10.1%); electronic products (4.3%); machinery and transport equipment (3.0%) and other mineral products (1.1%). 

By commodity group, export of electronic products continued to be the country’s top export with total earnings of $3.54 billion. This amount, which accounted for 59.0 percent of the total exports’ revenue in June 2019, moved up by 4.3 percent from the $3.40 billion export receipt in June 2018.  Components/devices (semiconductors) accounted for the biggest share of 43.8 percent among the electronic products.  Export for these electronic products went up by of 4.1 percent, from $2.53 billion in June 2018 to $2.63 billion in June 2019.

On the other hand, total imported goods in June 2019 declined by 10.4 percent, from $9.47 billion in June 2018 to $8.48 billion in June 2019.  The decrease was due to the decrements in nine of the top 10 major import commodities. These were iron and steel (-40.3%);  cereals and cereal preparations (-29.4%); industrial machinery and equipment (-20.7%); plastic in primary and non-primary forms (-16.4%); transport equipment (-12.6%); telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (-12.2%); mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (-7.0%); other food and live animals (-6.7%); and miscellaneous manufactured articles (-0.1%). 

Among the imported commodity groups, import bills of electronic products, valued at $2.39 billion, accounted for the highest share of 28.1 percent to the total imports.  Import of this commodity group grew up by 1.8 percent, from $2.34 billion in June 2018. Among the electronic products, components/devices (semiconductors) accounted for the biggest share of 19.3 percent.  This commodity group reflected an increase of 1.2 percent, from $1.62 billion in June 2018 to $1.64 billion in June 2019.  (see Table 3)

2. Exports of manufactured goods up by 1.4 percent while imports of raw materials and intermediate goods drop by  16.5 percent

By major type of goods, exports of manufactured goods, contributes 84.4 percent of the total exports and were valued at $5.07 billion in June 2019.  It  accelerated by 1.4 percent from its $5.00 billion export value in June 2018.  This was followed by exports of total agro-based products and mineral products amounting to $446.42 million and $368.51 million, respectively. (see Table 4)

On the other hand, imports of  raw materials and intermediate goods posted the largest contribution of 36.5 percent to the total import value. It declined by 16.5 percent, from $3.70 billion in June 2018 to $3.09 billion in June 2019.  Semi-processed raw materials contributed $2.82 billion or 33.3 percent of the total imports.  

Imports of capital goods ranked second, sharing 34.2 percent or an import value of $2.90 billion.  Consumer goods placed third with a share of 16.0 percent or import value worth $1.36 billion.  (see Table 5)

3. Among all of the Philippine’s major trading partners, exports to USA account for 16.2 percent while imports from People’s Republic of China’s share is 22.8 percent.

By major trading partners, exports to the United States of America (USA) posted the highest value of $974.36 million or a share of 16.2 percent to the total exports in June 2019.  Exports to this country grew by 9.7 percent, from $892.07 million in June 2018.  Other major export trading partners were Japan, $874.18 million; People’s Republic of China, $824.85 million; Hong Kong, $812.53 million; and Singapore, $336.24 million. (see Table 6)

People’s Republic of China was the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods with 22.8 percent share to total imports in June 2019. Import payments from this country reached $1.93 billion, from $2.01 billion in June 2018.  Other major import trading partners were  Japan, $822.60 million;  Republic of Korea, $678.10 million;  United States of America, $602.98 million; and Thailand, $521.37 million. (see Table 7)

 

4. Exports to countries in East Asia comprise 50.0 percent while imports reach 47.9 percent

By economic bloc, majority of the country’s merchandise exports in June 2019, which comprise of 50.0 percent of the total exports or $3.01 billion, went to countries in East Asia.  This amount expanded by 1.6 percent, from $2.96 billion in June 2018.  Similarly, East Asia was the biggest supplier of the country’s imports in June 2019, amounting to $4.06 billion or 47.9 percent of the total imports.  This amount decreased by 10.7 percent, from $4.55 billion in June 2018.

Total exports to ASEAN member countries was valued at $920.87 million, representing  a share of 15.3 percent to total export value.  It contracted by 4.4 percent from the export value of $963.10 million in June 2018.  Commodities imported from ASEAN member countries reached $2.28 billion.  It contributed 26.9 percent to total import and declined by 7.4 percent from the recorded import value of $2.46 billion in June 2018.

Goods exported to European Union (EU) member countries registered a value of $705.39 million or a share of 11.7 percent.  It went down by 3.5 percent from its value of $731.02 million in June 2018.   Moreover, imports from the EU recorded a value of $721.35 million or a share of 8.5 percent. It rose by 3.4 percent from the June 2018 value of $697.71 million. (see Table 10)