The Philippines' total merchandise trade in goods decreased 25.7 per cent in March 2020, amounting to US$11.44 billion from the $15.40 billionexternal trade in March 2019, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday (May 6).
Of the total external trade, the PSA said $4.53 billion, or 39.6 per cent, were exported goods and $6.91 billion or 60.4 per cent were imported goods.
The PSA further reported that the country's balance of trade in goods in March 2020 posted a $2.38 billion deficit, which was lower by 28.6 per cent than the $3.33 billion deficit in March 2019.
According to the PSA data, the Philippines' total export sales in March 2020 amounted to $4.53 billion, a decrease of 24.9 per cent from the $6.03-billion total export generated in March 2019.
Largely contributing to the downtrend in March 2020 were nine of the top 10 major export commodities led by metal components, -40.9 per cent; machinery and transport equipment, -33.1 per cent; and electronic products, -24 per cent, the PSA said.
By commodity group, exports of electronic products continued to be the country's top export with total earnings of $2.44 billion. This amount, which accounted for 53.8 per cent of the total exports in March 2020, decreased by 24.0 per cent, from $3.20 billion in March 2019.
On the other hand, the PSA said the total imported good amounted to $6.91 billion, indicating a reduction of 26.2 per cent from the value of imported goods recorded in March 2019 which amounted to $9.37 billion.
The PSA said the decrement was due to the decreases in the top 10 major import commodities led by industrial machinery and equipment, -39.4 per cent; telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, -37.1 per cent; and miscellaneous manufactured articles, -32.9 per cent.
Source: The Star
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<p>Time: November 2025<br /> By: WTO and International Trade Group, Legal Department – VCCI</p>
