The Philippines’ trade deficit in December narrowed to USD4.01 billion from USD4.73 billion in November, as imports declined from the previous month at a faster clip than exports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed Friday.
The trade deficit was also wider at USD4.51 billion in December 2022, when imports stood at USD10.32 billion and exports was at USD5.81 billion.
Exports in December declined 0.5 percent year-on-year to USD5.78 billion while imports dropped 5.1 percent to USD9.79 billion. Exports in November stood at USD6.23 billion while imports was at USD10.96 billion.
Other mineral products showed the sharpest decline in value terms in December at USD132.9 million, down 46 percent year-on-year. Machinery and transport equipment dropped by USD37.7 million or by 21 percent while electronic equipment and parts fell by USD24.7 million, or by 28 percent.
Hong Kong was the main export market for Philippine products in December, accounting for USD951.1 million, or 16.5 percent share.
The other major markets were the US, Japan, China and South Korea.
Imported mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials in December showed the highest decline in value, falling by USD472.4 million year-on-year to USD1.27 billion. The value of imported electronic products fell by USD328.5 million to USD2.09 billion while industrial machinery and equipment dropped by USD48.9 million to USD425.4 million.
The five sources of imports are China, Japan, Indonesia, the US and Thailand, in that order.
