January exports up 3%; Japan still top destination

MANILA, Philippines – After 8 consecutive months of decline, the country’s merchandise exports posted a 3% increase in January to $4.121 billion.

In the latest report of the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday, March 13, exports also rebounded and posted a growth of 21% from the $3.407 billion posted in December 2011.

For the full year 2011, Philippine exports bore the brunt of the global slowdown due to the economic woes of key markets in the west, and the disasters that hit Japan and Thailand.

Official data shows Philippine exports in 2011 slumped 6.9%, pulling down overall economic performance to a slower growth pace of 6.7% from 7.6% the year before.

Electronics

A healthier demand for electronic products from the Philippines buoyed the country’s total exports in January.

Export of electronic products, which accounted for 52.2% of total export revenues in January 2012, reached $2.152 billion, representing a slight 0.4% from $2.142 billion in January 2011.

On a month-on-month basis, electronic products grew 35.1% in January from from $1.593 billion in December 2011.

Of electronic products, components/devices or semiconductors accounted for bulk.

Semiconductors comprised 37.8% of the total exports with export earnings worth $1.560 billion. This, however, was a decrease of 1.8% from $1.588 billion registered in January 2011.

Export destinations

The following are the top export destinations of the Philippine-made products in January 2012:

• Japan including Okinawa, $706.92 million, accounted for 17.2% of total export earnings
• United States of America (USA) including Alaska and Hawaii, $657.58 million, accounted for 16%
• People’s Republic of China, $589.99 million, which accounted for 14.35%