The country’s trade-in-goods deficit narrowed in January after merchandise export growth outpaced the increase in imports, the government reported this morning.

Preliminary data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed earnings from the country’s merchandise sales abroad increased by 9.7% year-on-year to $5.79 billion at the start of 2020.

This was a turnaround from the 6.7% drop in January 2019, albeit slower than the 22% growth seen in December 2019.

The export growth in January was above the four-percent growth target set by the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) for 2020.

Meanwhile, the country’s import bill went up by one percent to $9.29 billion in January. This marked a reversal from the 7.6% contraction in December, but was slower than the 3.6% import growth in January last year.

The January result marked the first time since March 2019 that imports grew year-on-year. Nevertheless, this was below the DBCC’s eight-percent growth target set for this year.

The country’s trade-in-goods deficit amounted to $3.5 billion, narrower than the $3.92-billion shortfall recorded in the same month last year.

For the month, the United States (US) was the top market for Philippine goods, accounting for 16.3% with $941.73 million. It was followed by Japan with a 16.1% share of $930.89 million, and Hong Kong’s 14% share of $809.74 million.

On the other hand, Mainland China was the biggest source of foreign goods purchased by locals in January, accounting for 25.5% at $2.37 billion. Other major import trading partners were Japan and Korea, which contributed 8.7% ($810.69 million) and 7.5% ($698.27 million), respectively. —Marissa Mae M. Ramos

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