THE country’s exports posted a growth of 9.8 percent in the first quarter of the year, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Data showed the country shipped $19.42 billion worth of goods to various parts of the globe in January 2022 to March 2022.
In March, data showed total export sales in March 2022 amounted to $7.17 billion, representing growth of 5.9 percent from the 15.8 percent posted in February.
PSA data, however, showed that total exports grew 33.4 percent in March 2021.
Based on PSA data, exports of electronic products grew 10.3 percent to $10.92 billion in the first three months of the year from $9.9 billion in the same period of 2021.
Top exports
In March, data showed electronic products continued to be the country’s top export in March 2022 with total earnings of $3.96 billion. This amount accounted for 55.3 percent of the total exports during the period.
Meanwhile, imports grew 28 percent to $33.31 billion in the January to March period in 2022 from $26.02 billion in 2021.
In March, imports posted a 27.7-percent growth to $12.17 billion in 2022 from $9.53 billion in the same period last year.
The country’s top import in the first quarter reached $8.04 billion in the January to March 2022 period. This was 11.5 percent higher than the $7.22 billion in the same period last year.
In March, imports of electronic products amounted to $2.76 billion or a share of 22.6 percent to the total imports in March 2022. This grew 7.6 percent from the $2.56 billion recorded in March 2021.
Markets
The country’s top export destinations were the United States, the People’s Republic of China and Japan in March and the first quarter of this year.
Exports to the United States accounted for 15.4 percent of all the country’s exports in the January to March period and 15.2 percent in the month of March.
Shipments to America reached $2.99 billion in the first quarter of this year, representing growth of 7.9 percent from $2.78 billion posted in the same period in 2021.
In March 2022, Filipino exporters shipped $1.09 billion to the United States. This represented a growth of 8.1 percent from $1 billion in March 2021.
Exports to China accounted for 14.8 percent of total exports in the first quarter of 2022 and 16.5 percent of the total in March 2022.
Filipino exporters shipped a total of $2.87 billion worth of goods to China in the first quarter of this year. This was a 12.3-percent increase from the $2.56 billion posted in the January to March period last year.
In March 2022, local exporters sent $1.83 billion in goods to China. This was an 8.8-percent growth from the $1.09 billion posted in the same period last year.
Exports to Japan, PSA data showed, accounted for 14.3 percent of total exports in the January to March 2022 period and 14.5 percent of March 2022 exports.
Shipments to Japan amounted to $2.77 billion in the first quarter of 2022. This represented a growth of 3.1 percent from the $2.69 billion in the same period last year.
In March, Filipino exports sent $1.04 billion worth of goods to Japan. This was a 5.1-percent growth from the $900 million shipped in March 2021.
Import sources
Meanwhile, the country’s top import sources in March and in the first quarter of the year were China, South Korea, and Japan.
Imports from China accounted for 18.3 percent of total imports in the first quarter and 17.5 percent of shipments in March 2022.
Manila imported $6.1 billion worth of goods from China in the January to March period, a contraction of 2.9 percent from the $6.28 billion posted in the same period of 2021.
In March, goods shipped from China amounted to $2.13 billion in 2022, a 3.7 percent contraction from the $2.2 billion posted in 2021.
Imports from Korea accounted for 10 percent of total imports in the January to March period in 2022 and 9.8 percent of imports in March.
These imports from Seoul amounted to $3.34 billion in January to March 2022, a 71.7-percent growth from the $1.94 billion in the same period of 2021.
In March, shipments from Korea amounted to $1.2 billion, a 77.7-percent growth from the $673.35 million posted in the same month of 2021.
Meanwhile, imports from Japan accounted for 9.7 percent of total shipments in the first quarter this year and 10.2 percent of March imports.
Manila imported $3.22 billion worth of goods from Tokyo in March 2022. This represented a 31.3-percent growth from the $2.45 billion posted in March 2021.