Export earnings fell 3.2 percent to $4.1 billion year-on-year in May after 17 consecutive months of growth, the National Statistics Office reported Tuesday.
This was the first recorded decrease in exports since the 8-percent drop in October 2009 and a series of growth that started with 5.7 percent in November that year and ended at 19.1 percent last April.
Documents from the NSO also showed that the decline in May was a turnaround from a 37.4-percent jump in the same month last year.
Compared to exports in April when earnings reached $4.3 billion, May shipments represented a decrease of 4.6 percent. This was the second month in a row of decline and was faster than the previous month’s drop of 1.2 percent.
The latest data brought January-May receipts to $20.62 billion, up 7.5 percent from $19.18 billion in the same period of 2010.
In May, the value of electronics products sent out—which accounted for 46 percent of total outbound cargoes—declined 26.2 percent year-on-year to $1.89 billion. This drop was more than twice the 10.6-percent slump recorded in April.
The decline in electronics shipments was caused mainly by the 25.1-percent decrease in exports of semiconductor components and devices.
NSO data also showed that receipts from the country’s second top export—woodcrafts and furniture—almost doubled at $186.33 million.
Apparel and clothing accessories placed third, growing 6 percent to $159.93 million. Fourth on the list was coconut oil, which increased 9 percent to $119.99 million. Fifth were petroleum products, which jumped 441.4 percent to $114.25 million.
Other top earners were cathodes made of refined copper, up 119.6 percent to $106.69 million; other products made from imported inputs, up 15.1 percent to $63.89 million; automotive wiring sets, down 35.5 percent to $57.69 million; metal components, down 21.9 percent to $53.42 million, and copper concentrates, up 212 percent to $41.83 million.
In May, manufactured goods represented 79.8 percent of receipts and were down in aggregate value by 11.4 percent at $3.28 billion.
Agro-based products posted a total income of $339.32 million or an increase of 40.2 percent.
Receipts from mineral products reached $237.42 million, rising 81.2 percent during the period.
Also in May, the United States climbed a notch to become the Philippines’ top export market with 17.1 percent of total outbound traffic with the value increasing 1.9 percent to $700.76 million.
Exports to Japan followed at 15.2 percent of total, inching up 1.2 percent to $624.27 million.
China remained at third place with 11.9 percent of cargoes, rising by about a quarter to $490.23 million.