Philippines’ total external trade up by 1.8 pct in August

MANILA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) — The Philippines’ total external trade in goods increased by 1.8 percent in August 2024 to 17.87 billion U.S. dollars from 17.56 billion dollars in August 2023, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Thursday.
Of the total external trade in August 2024, the agency said 62.2 percent were imported goods, while the rest were exported goods.
The PSA said the balance of trade in goods or the difference between export and import value in August 2024 amounted to -4.38 billion dollars, indicating a trade deficit with an annual increase of 6.6 percent.
China was the Philippines’ largest supplier of imported goods, valued at 2.79 billion dollars or 25.1 percent of the country’s total imports in August this year, said the PSA.
The United States contributed the highest export value in August, with 1.22 billion dollars, or 18.1 percent of the total exports. ■