MANILA, Philippines – The country’s merchandise exports grew by 15.8 percent, indicating a continued upward trend for the 7th consecutive month in December 2013 and making it the top export performer in selected economies in East and Southeast Asia, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
The Philippines outshone Vietnam (12.6%), Indonesia (8.5%), Malaysia (7.6%), Korea (7.0%), Singapore (5.6%), China (4.3%), and Thailand (1.9%). It also outperformed other economies in the region which posted negative exports growth such as Taiwan (-1.9%), Hong Kong (-3.0%), and Japan (-6.2%).
“The positive exports performance of the Philippines—and even those of the majority of trade-oriented economies in the East and Southeast Asia—was reflective of the recovery of major economies such as the United States of America (USA), European Union (EU), and Japan,” said Secretary of Economic Planning Arsenio M. Balisacan.
Balisacan added that exports continued their upward trend for the 7th consecutive month in December 2013. He attributed this to the robust outward sales of manufactured goods, most notably, electronics. Manufactured goods expanded by 20.8 percent year-on-year. Exports of electronic products significantly grew by 26.1 percent in December 2013 after contracting by 5.1 percent in the same period last year.
The NEDA Director-General noted, however, that lower export receipts from agro-based, petroleum, mineral, and forest products slowed down export performance in December 2013.
“The combined destructions in plantations and milling facilities tightened the coconut supply and this resulted in large declines in the volume shipments of coconut products such as desiccated coconut, copra meal/cake and coconut oil,” he added.
Despite the setbacks in some commodity groups and other sectors, the country registered a positive growth of 3.6% in merchandise exports.
Japan remains as the top destination of Philippine exports in December 2013, accounting for 23.0 percent of the country’s total overseas merchandise sales receipts, with a total value of $1.06 billion. This was higher by 48.1 percent relative to the $715.3 million worth of Philippine exports to the said country in December 2012.
