The country’s trade deficit narrowed by 27.3 percent in September as imports recorded a sharper contraction versus that of exports.
Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed the trade deficit in September stood at $3.51 billion.
In comparison, the balance of trade in the same period last year was -$4.83 billion, while it was -$4.13 billion in August.
The country’s total export sales in September amounted to $6.73 billion, indicating a decrease of 6.3 percent from the $7.18 billion total exports in the same month of the previous year.
The commodity group with the highest drop in the value of exports in September was electronic products with $424.39 million.
This was followed by other manufactured goods with an annual decline of $48.6 million and other mineral products with a decrease of $36.54 million.
The year-to-date annual total export earnings totaled to $54.54 billion, 6.6 percent down from the year-to-date annual total export value of $58.37 billion in January to September 2022.
Meanwhile, the total imported goods in September 2023 amounted to $10.24 billion, indicating an annual decrease of 14.7 percent from the $12.01 billion in the same month of the previous year.
In September, the commodity group with the sharpest drop in the value of imported goods was electronic products at $756.15 million.
This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials, which declined by $564.3 million; and organic and inorganic chemicals with an annual drop of $124.93 million.
The year-to-date annual total import value amounted to $94.36 billion, 10.2 percent down from the total import value of $105.06 billion in January to September 2022.
For the month, the country’s total external trade in goods amounted to $16.97 billion, posting a decline of 11.6 percent from the $19.19 billion total external trade in the same period of the previous year.