MANILA,Philippines — Philippine exports of agricultural products contracted by seven percent in 2018 as declines in outbound shipments were seen in most of the country’s prime farm exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported.
Final Results of the 2018 Highlights of the Foreign Trade Statistics for Agricultural Commodities in the Philippines released late Thursday showed that agricultural exports fell by seven percent to $6.12 billion in 2018 from $6.58 billion in 2017.
The share of agriculture exports to total exports also fell by 0.8 percentage points in 2018.
The total agricultural trade value of the Philippines increased by 10.2 percent to $20.22 billion in 2018, from $18.34 billion in 2017.
As imports of $14.10 billion still outpaced exports, agriculture trade remained in deficit in 2018.
Among the country’s top five farm commodity exports, only outbound shipments of edible fruit and nuts, as well as peel of citrus fruits, registered growth of 12.8 percent year-on-year to $1.98 billion.
The rest of the commodity groups registered declines in export revenues. These include animal and vegetable oils; preparations of fruits and vegetables and nuts; fish, crustaceans and mollusks; and preparations of meat, fish and crustaceans.
Among the country’s major trading partners, a trade surplus was only seen with Japan as exports to this country outpaced imports by $750.53 million.
All other major trading partners, on the other hand, showed trade deficits as follows: Australia, $691.75 million; US $ 1. 81 billion; ASEAN $4.07 billion and European Union $300.14 million.
Among ASEAN countries, exports to Malaysia were strongest, making up 30 percent of the total export to the region of $646.04 million.
Among European Union countries, meanwhile, exports of Philippine agricultural goods were strongest in the Netherlands, making up 13.2 percent of the total export to EU of $1.17 billion in 2018.