Based on the latest foreign trade statistics released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), total merchandise export earnings in the country amounted to US$ 3.573 billion in April 2010, posting a 27.4 percent growth from US$ 2.804 billion in the same period a year ago.  It is, however, lower by 14.5 percent than the US$ 4.181 billion export earnings in March this year.

Electronic products, the country’s top export commodity, accounted for 61.1 percent share of the total export revenue during the period.  Its earnings increased by 29.7 percent at US$ 2.183 billion in April 2010 compared to a revenue of US$ 1.684 billion in the same month a year ago. Other commodities in the list of top ten Philippine exports include: (a) coconut oil; (b) articles of apparel and clothing accessories; (c) woodcrafts and furniture; (d) ignition wiring set and other ignition wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships; (e) metal components; (f) other products manufactured from materials imported on consignment basis; (g) cathodes and sections of cathodes of refined copper; (h) petroleum products; and (i) tuna.

Among the top ten exports in April 2010, coconut oil registered the highest growth rate at 372.0 percent.  The five other commodities, which also had positive growths during the period, include metal components at 64.1 percent; ignition wiring set and other ignition wiring sets used in vehicles, aircrafts and ships at 49.2 percent; woodcrafts and furniture at 37.4 percent; electronic products at 29.7 percent; and articles of apparel and clothing accessories at 6.9 percent.

The top importer of Philippine products during the period is Japan, covering 17.3 percent of the aggregate export earnings in the country, followed by United States of America (USA) with 16.1 percent share.  Other large export markets for Philippine products include the People’s Republic of China with 9.9 percent share, Hong Kong with 9.8 percent share, and Singapore with 8.6 percent share.
 
Merchandise exports include exports of goods and monetization of gold while total exports consist of total merchandise exports and exports of services.    Data on merchandise exports are generated by the NSO while data on monetized gold and exports of services are sourced from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), except for travel services, which is sourced from the Department of Tourism (DOT).
Monthly statistics on merchandise exports 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 EO 352, data on exports should be made available 45 days after the reference month.  The NSO released the March 2010 data on exports on June 10, 2010 as scheduled in its 2010 Advance Release Calendar (ARC) while three days in advance as per EO 352. 

For further inquiries on merchandise exports statistics, please contact Ms. Rosie B. Sta. Ana, Chief of the Economic Indicators and Indices Division of the NSO, at telefax numbered 716-3935 and email address r.staana@census.gov.ph.

Link to data source:

http://www.census.gov.ph/data/pressrelease/2010/ex1004tx.html
http;//www.census.gov.ph/sectordata/2010/ex100403.htm
http://www.census.gov.ph/data/sectordata/datafts.html

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* what-iS-TAT? box contains snippets of official concepts and definitions, related surveys, censuses and administrative-based record systems, standards and classification systems, statistical laws and other legal provisions, NSCB Board Resolutions, and other related information on statistics.

Links to the information on what-iS-TAT?:
F.O.B. value: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/trade.asp
Balance of trade in merchandise goods:  http://www.nscb.gov.ph/glossary/trade.asp
Merchandise imports exceeded merchandise exports: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/secstat/d_trade.asp