Trade deficit narrows in September

MANILA, Philippines — The country’s trade gap narrowed by 27 percent in September from the same month last year as both exports and imports contracted, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Preliminary data released by the PSA showed the balance of trade in goods or the difference between the value of exports and imports registered a $3.51 billion deficit in September, lower than the $4.83 billion gap in the same month a year ago.

The September trade deficit is also smaller than the $4.13 billion trade shortfall in August.

The country’s merchandise export sales dipped by 6.3 percent to $6.73 billion in September from $7.18 billion in the same month last year.

Electronic products remained the country’s top export in September, with the commodity group’s total earnings accounting for 60.8 percent of the total for the month.

The value of the country’s electronic exports declined by 9.4 percent to $4.09 billion in September from $4.51 billion a year ago.

The US was the top destination for Philippine merchandise exports as it accounted for $1.06 billion or 15.8 percent of the total in September.

Goods imported by the country, meanwhile, dropped by 14.7 percent to $10.24 billion in September from $12.01 billion in the same month in the previous year.

Electronic products also had the highest imports value in September, which reached $2.20 billion or 21.5 percent of the total imports.

China was the country’s biggest source of imported goods, accounting for $2.63 billion or 25.6 percent of the total in September.

From January to September, the country’s trade deficit amounted to $39.82 billion, lower than the $46.69 billion in the same period in 2022.

Philippine merchandise exports went down by 6.6 percent to $54.54 billion from January to September from $58.37 billion last year.

The value of the country’s imports slid 10.2 percent to $94.36 billion during the nine-month period.