Philippine exports to EU up 40% to 5.4B euros

The value of goods shipped from the Philippines to members of the European Union jumped 40 percent to 5.4 billion euros (P337.7 billion) in 2010, moving the country up to the No. 42 slot on the EU’s list of top trading partners.

Citing figures from the EU-Philippines Trade Factfile 2010, EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said Philippine imports from EU member-states also rose by 26 percent to 3.7 billion euros (P231.4 billion) last year.

Overall trade in goods between the country and the economic bloc reached 9.1 billion euros (P569 billion) in 2010, a 34-percent improvement from the year before. This represented the highest growth registered in more than 10 years, and brought trade to pre-crisis levels.

Ledoux attributed this significant trade boost to the recovery of both the Philippine and EU economies, following the recession that hit most parts of the world in late 2008 and 2009.

After taking a hard hit, the EU’s gross domestic product managed to register a modest 1.8-percent growth last year. The Philippines, on the other hand, posted a GDP growth of 7.6 percent.

In its trade with the EU, the Philippines registered a trade surplus of 1.6 billion euros (P100.1 billion) in 2010, nearly double the surplus posted in 2009.

Electronics comprised the bulk of goods traded between the Philippines and the EU members, with agricultural products also figuring significantly in the mix.

In 2010, Ledoux said that trade in manufactured goods rose 34 percent, while that in agricultural products increased by 48 percent.

Trade in services between the country and the EU was flat at 2.2 billion euros (P137.7 billion) last year, leaving a huge room for growth, considering that the EU was the world’s largest offshoring market and the Philippines was the second-most preferred offshoring destination in the world.

Apart from trade in goods and services, EU companies had also been pouring significant investments into the country over the years. As of end-2009, EU firms accounted for 6.6 billion euros (P413 billion), or 38 percent of the country’s total FDI stock.

Philippine companies, on the other hand, have infused around 1.4 billion euros (P87.6 billion) in the EU territories as of 2009, almost a third of total investments in foreign lands.

The EU likewise plays host to about 660,000 land-based migrant Filipinos and some 120,000 seafarers on European vessels as of 2009. These overseas Filipinos sent a total of 2 billion euros (P125.2 billion) in remittances to the country in 2010.

EU tourists were the fifth-largest group of visitors to the country last year at 297,000, behind South Koreans, Americans, Japanese, and those from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.