As reported by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the total merchandise imports for March 2007 went up by 10.4 percent reaching US$4,567 million from US$4,138 million in the same month last year. Electronic products, which accounted for 50.2 percent of total imports, exhibited a 33.7 percent growth. Other top imports include (a) mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials; (b) transport equipment; (c) industrial machinery and equipment; (d) organic and inorganic chemicals; (e) textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles and related products; (f) plastics in primary and non-primary forms; (g) cereal and cereal preparations; (h) iron and steel, and (i) telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery, comprised 32.1 percent of the total imports.

Electronic products propelled the 10.4 percent growth in imports, almost single-handedly with its share at 10.0 percentage points. On the other hand, cereals and cereal preparations pulled down the import growth by 2.3 percentage points.

The biggest sources of imports in March 2007 were the USA supplying 17.7 percent of the total imports, Japan with 12.3 percent share and Singapore with 11.7 percent share. Compared with March 2006 figures, the share of USA and Singapore inched by 1.5 and 0.9 percentage points, respectively, while that of Japan declined by 2.1 percentage points.

The country’s total external trade in March 2007 rose to US$9,014 million, posting a 9.1 percent increment compared to US$8,265 million exhibited in the same month a year ago. On the contrary, balance of trade in March 2007 slipped to US$119 million deficit compared to US$10 million deficit registered in March 2006.

Monthly data on merchandise trade are generated from the compilation of foreign trade statistics which is one of the designated statistical activities of the NSO under Executive Order No. 352, Designation of Statistical Activities That Will Generate Critical Data for Decision-Making of the Government and the Private Sector, issued on July 1, 1996. Per the EO, data on imports should be made available 45 days after the reference month. It may be noted that the top ten imports listed in the NSO foreign trade statistics are different from the top merchandise imports in the national accounts which are based on the 1988 list of top imports to maintain the national accounts link series over a period of time. For further inquiries, please contact Ms. Rosie B. Sta. Ana, Chief of the Economic Indicators and Indices Division of the NSO, at telefax numbered 716-39-35 and e-mail address r.staana@census.gov.ph.

Link to data source: http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2007/tr0703tx.html