Foreign trade in 2010 surged on world recovery

The Philippines’ foreign trade in goods surged by about a third in 2010 to reach $106.4 billion, an increase of 30.5 percent from $81.5 billion in 2009, according to the National Statistics Office.

Total export receipts rose by 34 percent to $51.5 billion from $38.4 billion in 2009, while total imports grew by 27.5 percent to $54.9 billion from $43.1 billion in 2009.

Electronic products, a consistent top earner, again led the pack with 60.4 percent of the total exports. Receipts surged by 40.1 percent to $31.1 billion from $22.2 billion in 2009.

Articles of apparel and clothing accessories were second with 3.3 percent share of export earnings and an aggregate receipt of $1.7 billion, or 11.6 percent higher than the $1.5 billion in 2009.

Coconut oil ranked third with a share of 2.5 percent, posting the highest growth among the top 10 exports at 112.9 percent to $1.3 billion from $594.5 million in 2009.

Woodcrafts and furniture, contributing 2.3 percent of the total export receipts, was the fourth-top export in 2010 with sales of $1.2 billion, or 23.2 percent up from $958.8 million in 2009.

As for imports, electronic products, accounting for 33.8 percent of the total import bill, posted an increase of 22.3 percent to $18.6 billion from $15.2 billion.

Mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials ranked second with a 17.5 percent share and posted a growth of 30.3 percent to $9.6 billion from $7.4 billion.

Transport equipment ranked third, constituting 6.3 percent of total imports, growing by 53.8 percent to $3.5 billion from $2.3 billion in 2009. Among the top imports, this posted the highest growth.

Japan remained the country’s top trading partner in 2010, cornering 13.7 percent of the country’s total trade, according to the National Statistics Office.

Exports to Japan totaled $7.8 billion while imports were valued at $6.744 billion, posting a trade surplus of $1.1 billion.

The majority of the imported products from Japan were electronic products billed at $3 billion, or 44.5 percent of the total imports, and transport equipment at $730.5 million, or a 10.8 percent share of the total imports.

The United States was the Philippines’ second-largest trading partner in 2010 with total trade worth $13.4 billion, or 12.6 percent of the total trade.