Exports of electronic products in February 2023 posted a decline of $765.4 million to $2.6 billion from $3.4 billion in February 2022 followed by coconut oil, down $156.54 million.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the total export earnings in the first two months of 2023 also dropped by 15.6 percent to $10.33 billion from $12.25 billion in the same period last year.
Electronic products continued to be the Philippines’ top export in February 2023 with total earnings of $2.68 billion, which accounted for 52.7 percent of the country’s total exports, followed by manufactured goods worth $337.18 million (6.6%) and ignition wiring sets which amounted to $239.52 million.
Japan was the biggest export market in February 2023 with the highest export value amounting to $822.65 million which accounted for 16.2 percent of the country’s total exports during the month followed by the US valued at $756.00 million, China ($611.59 million), Hong Kong ($ 526.86 million) and Singapore ($ 310.60 million).
On the other hand, imports of electronic products in February 2023 dropped by $356.38 million to $2.13 billion compared to $2.4 billion in February 2022, followed by transport equipment, down by $166.52 cereals which dropped by $165.84 million.
The commodity group with the highest imported value in February 2023 was electronic products valued at $2.13 billion which accounted for 23.8 percent of the country’s total imports followed by mineral fuels, lubricants, and related materials at $1.59 billion (17.7%) and transport equipment at $818.24 million (9.1%).
The total imported goods in February 2023 dropped by 12.1 percent to $8.95 billion compared to the same period in 2022.
Imports of raw materials and intermediate goods accounted for the largest share of the country’s total imports amounting to $3.11 billion (34.7%) followed by capital goods valued at $2.62 billion (29.3%) and consumer goods with an import value of $1.60 billion (17.9%).
Meanwhile, the manufacture of computer, electronic, and optical products also slowed down in February with its value of production index declining by 10.9 percent compared to a 3.1 percent annual drop in January 2023 followed by non-metallic products with a slower annual growth of 2.6 percent.
The PSA attributed the slower annual growth in the volume of production index (VoPI) in February to the declining annual rate in the index of manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products, -14.2 percent from -6.9 percent; and the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products, -2.7 percent from 17.8 percent.
Other main drivers to the decline of VoPI for the manufacturing sector were the manufacture of food products at 6.4 percent in February 2023 from 14 percent in the previous month.
The manufacture of food products contributed 29.7 percent to the downtrend of VoPI of the manufacturing sector in February 2023.
The value of the net sales index (VaNSI) for manufacturing continued to increase in February 2023 but at a slower annual rate of 8.7 percent, compared with its annual growth of 19.5 percent in January 2023. In February 2022, VaNSI also recorded a higher annual increase of 23 percent.
Other main contributors to the slower annual growth rate of VaNSI in February 2023 were the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products with an annual decline of -17.1 percent during the period from an annual drop of -2.7 percent in January 2023.
