By Kris M. Crismundo
MANILA, Jan 9 (PNA) — The Philippines surpassed exports growth of East Asian and Southeast Asian countries in November 2014 expanding by 19.7 percent.
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported Friday that merchandise exports of the country November last year reached USD5.18 billion higher by USD850 million from November 2013’s exports revenue of USD4.33 billion.
“Philippine merchandise exports grew by 19.7 percent in November, which for the third time in 2014 placed the Philippines as the highest export performer among East and Southeast Asian economies,” the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on the other hand stressed.
The country outperformed exports growth of its ASEAN neighbors: Indonesia (-14.6 percent); Malaysia (-2.3 percent); Singapore (-6.4 percent); Thailand (-1.0 percent); and Vietnam (10.8 percent).
The expansion of Philippine exports industry also topped exports growth of big East Asian economies including China with growth of 4.7 percent; Taiwan, up by 3.7 percent; Hong Kong, up by 2.8 percent; South Korea, down by 2.1 percent; and Japan, down by 10 percent.
“This strong performance of the exports sector during the period was largely driven by growth in manufactures, agro-based, and mineral products. An increased demand for Philippine-made products by Taiwan, China and the United States of America (USA) likewise boosted this expansion,” said NEDA Deputy Director-General Emmanuel F. Esguerra.
Electronic products remain the country’s top exports in November 2014 sharing 49.2 percent of the total exports. Electronics export increased 24 percent to USD2.55 billion from November 2013’s revenue of USD2.01 billion.
Woodcrafts and furniture followed electronics with exports value of USD359 million which went up by 27.5 percent from November 2013’s exports of USD282 million.
Other manufactures exports, despite declining by 27.2 percent, was the third largest exports of the country in November last year. Revenue posted a total of USD329 million.
Completing the top five exports in November 2014 were chemicals with revenue of USD233 million and machinery and transport equipment with exports value of USD209 million.
“Manufactures continue to gain from positive developments in the global manufacturing sector, as better performance of both the electronics and non-electronics segments pushed exports to a higher growth path,” said Esguerra.
Further, top destination for Philippine exports in November 2014 was Japan. Exports to Japan went up by 5.5 percent to USD1.09 billion from 2013’s figure of USD1.04 billion.
USA was the second largest export partner of the country in the said period with receipt amounting to USD689 million.
This is followed by China with exports of USD644 million, Taiwan with USD559 million, and Hong Kong with USD538 million.
Meanwhile, aggregate exports from January to November 2014 recorded a 10 percent growth to USD56.93 billion from same period of 2013’s exports revenue of USD51.74 billion. (PNA)