THE Philippines’ trade deficit narrowed by 31.5 percent to $4.13 billion in August this year, the state statistics bureau said yesterday.
The trade deficit was at $4.2 billion in July.
Total exports reached $6.7 billion in August, up by 4.2 percent compared to the $6.43 billion in the same period last year, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed.
This brought the total export earnings from January to August 2023 to $47.81 billion, lower by 6.6 percent from a year ago, the PSA said.
Major export trading partners include the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Singapore.
Meanwhile, the total value of imported goods in June amounted to $10.83 billion, which is lower compared to the $12.46 billion in the same month last year, according to data.
From January to June this year, the total import value reached $84.12 billion.
China is the country’s biggest supplier of imported goods at $2.43 billion, comprising 22.4 percent of the country’s total imports in June, the PSA said. Other major import partners include Indonesia, Japan, Korea and the US.
For the month, the total external trade in goods amounted to $17.53 billion, declining by 7.2 percent compared to the $18.89 billion in the same period the previous year, data showed. (ABS-CBN News)
