Trade deficit at widest level in 5 months

MANILA, Philippines — The country posted its biggest trade gap in goods in five months last April as exports grew at a faster pace than imports, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Preliminary data from the PSA yesterday showed that the balance of trade in goods, or the difference between exports and imports value, amounted to a $4.76 billion deficit in April this year, 1.5 percent lower than the $4.83 billion in the same month in 2023.

Despite narrowing year-on-year in April, the trade shortfall was the widest since the $4.77 billion posted in November last year.

The April trade shortfall was also bigger than the $3.44 billion trade deficit in March.

Philippine export sales rose by 26.4 percent to $6.22 billion in April this year from $4.92 billion in the same month in the previous year.

In an email, Oikonomia Advisory & Research Inc. president and chief economist John Paolo Rivera said the recent depreciation in currency is prompting exporters to increase exportation activities to take advantage of higher revenues due to a weaker peso.

“This is expected to grow if the currency will not appreciate significantly over the next months,” he said.

He said the growth in exports was also supported by the higher demand for Philippine goods by the international market due to their stronger currency vis-a-vis the Philippine peso.

By commodity group, electronic products remained the country’s top exports, accounting for 57.4 percent of total exports in April.

The value of the country’s electronic exports rose by 33.3 percent to $3.57 billion in April from $2.68 billion in the same month a year ago.

This was followed by other manufactured goods with an export value of $331.30 million and other mineral products with $287.65 million in April.

By major trading partner, Hong Kong accounted for the biggest share in the country’s total exports in April this year with 16.5 percent, amounting to $1.03 billion.

Goods imported by the country also increased by 12.6 percent to $10.98 billion in April from $9.75 billion in the same month last year.

Among commodity groups, electronic products had the highest import value in April amounting to $2.32 billion, up by nine percent from $2.13 billion in the same month a year ago.

China remained the biggest source of the Philippines’ imported goods valued at $3.15 billion or 28.7 percent of the total in April.

The country’s total external trade in goods climbed by 17.2 percent to $17.19 billion in April from $14.66 billion in the same month of 2023.

From January to April of this year, the country’s trade deficit declined by 15.7 percent to $16.27 billion from $19.29 billion in the same period a year ago.

The country’s exports in the January to April period grew by 9.6 percent to $24.19 billion this year from $22.07 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, total imports of the country in the January to April period dipped by 2.2 percent to $40.46 billion this year from $41.36 billion in the same period of 2023.