PH’s Dec. trade deficit wider at $4.596B: PSA

The Philippine trade deficit continued to expand in December 2022 despite imports contracting at a faster rate than exports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Thursday revealed.

The balance of trade in goods (BoT-G) or the difference between the value of exports and imports stood at a $4.596 billion deficit last December, wider than the $3.709-billion deficit in November, but narrower than the $5.116-billion deficit in the same month of 2021.

Import receipts for the month posted an annual decline of 9.9% to $10.263-billion from $11.395 billion, also reflecting a decline from $10.809 billion in the previous month.

Declines were recorded in the imports of iron and steel which fell by 41.7%; miscellaneous manufactured articles by 15.3%; transport equipment by 10.9%; electronic products by 10.8%; industrial machinery and equipment by 8.6%; telecommunication equipment by 1.3%; and other food and live animals by 1.0%.

These offset increases in the imports of metalliferous ores and metal scrap which grew by 542.9%; cereals and cereal preparations by 15.9%; and mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials by 13.4%.

China remained the biggest supplier of imported goods for the month, accounting for $2.33 billion or 22.7% of the month’s import receipts.

It was followed by Indonesia with $1.07 billion or 10.4%, Japan with $809.85 million or 7.9%; USA with $699.75 million or 6.8%; and the Republic of Korea with $697.85 million or 6.8%.

Year-to-date annual total import value amounted to $137.16 billion, equivalent to a 17.3% growth from $116.88 billion recorded in 2021.

Exports saw a 9.7% de-