Philippine exports and imports increased slightly in August, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Thursday.
Merchandise export sales reached $6.75 billion in August, up from $6.73 billion a year earlier. This brought total exports for the first eight months to $49.41 billion, up 2.3 percent from $48.31 billion.
Electronic products remained the country’s top exports, accounting for $3.57 billion, or 52.9 percent of the total. The United States was the largest export market, with sales of $1.22 billion, or 18.1 percent of the total.
Imported goods rose 2.7 percent to $11.12 billion in August but declined 0.5 percent to $83.70 billion in the first eight months. Electronic imports totaled $2.44 billion, or 22.0 percent of the total.
Total external trade in goods amounted to $17.87 billion in August, up 1.8 percent from $17.56 billion. The trade deficit amounted to $4.38 billion in August and $34.3 billion for the first eight months, the PSA said.
