Philippines: Exports contract considerably less in November

Philippine exports have been falling since April and continued to contract in November of last year, although at a significantly softer pace than in the previous month. Exports fell an annual 1.1% in November, which marked an improvement compared to October’s 11.8% decline. November’s advance mainly reflected a recovery in manufactures. Exports of electronic products—classified as a sub-category of manufactures—ticked up and rose 9.3% on an annual basis, which came in above the 7.3% increase seen in the previous month. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, electronic products account for the largest share of the total export revenue. Conversely, agro-based products recorded just another double-digit contraction in November.

In October (the latest month for which data are available), imports expanded 16.8% in annual terms, exceeding September’s 8.2% increase. Meanwhile, the trade balance deteriorated and tallied a USD 1.9 billion deficit in October (October 2014: USD 441 million deficit).

Met the why particular Consensus Forecast panelists see exports rising 6.4% in 2016 and slowing to a 3.1% expansion in 2017. Panelists expect a trade deficit of USD 11.7 billion in 2016 and see it widening to USD 13.2 billion in 2017.