Imports fall 13.7% in April

The country’s merchandise imports fell 13.7 percent in April from the same month a year ago mostly due to the decline in shipments of electronic products, the National Statistics Office (NSO) reported yesterday.

The NSO said total merchandise imports in April reached $4.77 billion, down from last year’s $5.53 billion.

Compared to imports in March which reached $5.37 billion, imports in April slipped by 11.2 percent.

The latest import bill brought the country’s imports to $20.27 billion in the January to April period, 4.6 percent lower than the $21.26 billion in the comparable period a year ago.

The NSO noted that electronic products which accounted for the bulk or 27.6 percent of the aggregate import bill, fell 22.1 percent to $ 1.317 billion from last year.

Import bill payments for mineral fuels, lubricants and other related materials which accounted for the second biggest share or 22.1 percent of imports was down 24.3 percent to $ 1.055 billion compared to last year’s.

The import bill payments of industrial machinery and equipment, which was the country’s third top import, meanwhile, climbed by 9.3 percent to $256.47 million from a year ago.

Among the country’s imports for the month, the NSO noted that transport equipment imports posted the highest annual growth rate of 22.6 percent to $226.08 million compared to the previous year.

The NSO also said that the United States of America (USA) including Alaska and Hawaii, was the country’s biggest source of imports in April, accounting for 11.9 percent of total imports.

Imports from the USA amounted to $567.84 million, 6.8 percent lower than in the same month last year.

Japan was the country’s second biggest source of imports in April which cornered an 11.3-percent share.

Imports from Japan reached $539.85 million, which was up 22.5 percent from last year.

China meanwhile, came in third or accounted for 9.9 percent of the country’s

total imports amounting to $ 471.08 million, 8.9 percent lower than a year ago.

Placing fourth is Singapore, which had an 8.8 percent share in imports.

Imports from Singapore was down by 8.7 percent to $420.06 million compared to last year’s.

Taiwan accounted for 8.4 percent of the total import bill, making it the country’s fifth biggest source of imports in April.

Imports from Taiwan amounted to $ 400.23 million, declining by 11.8 percent from last year.

Other major sources of imports in April were South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.