International Container Services, Inc. (ICTSI) port  and terminal in Manila. 

MANILA -- The Philippines' trade deficit narrowed in March as the country's international trade also shrank, the state statistics bureau said on Wednesday.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said that the country’s total external trade in goods in March this year amounted to $15.44 billion, down 15.4 percent from $18.25 billion in March last year. 

The trade gap meanwhile also fell 36.6 percent in March to $3.18 billion. 

Of the total external trade in March, 60.3 percent were imported goods, while the remaining were exported goods, the PSA said.

Total exports reached $6.13 billion in March, down by 7.3 percent from the $6.61 billion in March 2023, data from the PSA showed.

Philippine trade deficit shrinks as external trade grows

But from January to March 2024, exports increased 4.8 percent to $17.98 billion. In the same period last year, exports were only at $17.16 billion. 

Electronics remained the country's top export--earnings from this reached $3.59 billion or 58.6 percent of the country’s total exports during the period.

The United States remained the Philippines' biggest export market ($961.94 million), followed by Hong Kong ($880.88 million), China, ($837.51 million), Japan ($790.02 million), and South Korea ($391.59 million).

Meanwhile, Philippine imports also fell 20 percent to $9.31 billion. From January to March, imports also fell by 7.6 percent.

Electronics was also the Philippines' top import, making up 21.6 percent of the country's total imports at $2.01 billion.

China was the country's biggest source of imports ($2.27 billion), followed by Japan ($794.02 million), USA ($705.85 million), South Korea ($698.79 million), and Indonesia ($665.49 million).

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