PH export sales drop by 4.2% in July, breaking 16 months of sustained export growth

Philippine exports dropped to USD6.2 billion in July 2022, following the second month of decline in electronics exports, based on the preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Electronics exports declined further by 7.9% in July 2022, USD291.5 million lower as compared to July 2021.

Despite the decline, the electronics sector remains the country’s top export commodity, with total revenue of USD3.4 billion, or 54.6% of the country’s total exports.

Meanwhile, cumulative electronics export figures from January to July 2022 remain 2.0% higher than the same period last year.

Likewise, the weakening of the export performance of copper cathodes and other mineral products also contributed to the decline in the country’s export receipts in July.

However, the decline was dampened by an increase in the country’s exports of 22 other commodity groups led by coconut oil, gold, chemicals, other manufactured goods, and machinery and transport equipment.

Despite this month’s decline, total exports for the first seven months of the year, which totaled USD44.7 billion, are still 5.4% higher compared to 2021 export figures.

Cumulative export growth was driven by higher sales generated from coconut oil, electronic products, other mineral products, gold, and chemicals.

Exports to major trading partners, namely Singapore (33.1%), Netherlands (18.3%), and the USA (13.0%), recorded double-digit growth during the said period.

“We recognize the continuing challenges in the domestic and global trading environment and we hope to address the binding constraints to Philippine export competitiveness as we draft and implement the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) for 2023 to 2028. The PEDP being drafted features a more robust analysis of our priority export products and its corresponding markets, wider stakeholder engagement, and a proactive legislative agenda,” Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said.

“We will pursue industry clustering and regional approach to export development to advance the implementation of production-based regional development. We will also disperse innovation throughout the country and drive regional industrialization by establishing and supporting Regional Inclusive Innovation Centers (RIICs) that will enable collaboration among innovation agents to develop and commercialize market-oriented outputs,” he added.

Among agricultural goods, coconut oil remains the Philippines’ top export product for January to July 2022.

The export value of coconut oil reached USD1.5 billion or 102.58% higher than pre-pandemic level. Overall, exports of coconut products increased to USD1.8 billion or 88.6% compared to USD955.8 million in 2021.

Despite domestic and external challenges, 23 out of 48 Philippine export commodity groups showed strong growth in export sales this year compared to three time periods: 2021, 2020, and the pre-pandemic average from 2017 to 2019.

In terms of export markets, the United States accounted for USD1.1 billion or 17% of the Philippines’ total exports, followed by Japan at USD903.62 million (14.5% share), China at USD798.7 million (12.9% share), Hong Kong at USD768.95 million (12.4% share), and Singapore at USD427.25 million (6.9% share).