July Trade Deficit Trimmed To $4.2 Billion

The country's trade deficit further shrank in July as exports and imports continued to decline, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

July's export level was the lowest in three months since the $4.90 billion seen in April, while imports slumped by 15.3% to $10.35 billion. I Photo: International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI)

The PSA reported that the country's balance of trade in goods recorded a $4.20-billion deficit in July, a 30% decrease from the $6-billion gap in July 2022. However, the July trade gap was wider than the revised $3.94-billion deficit in June.

July also marked the widest trade deficit in two months, since the $4.45-billion deficit in May.

The Philippines has incurred a trade deficit for the last eight years, or since the trade surplus of $64.95 million in May 2015.

Merchandise exports declined by 1.2% to $6.14 billion in July, ending two consecutive months of growth. This was a reversal of the revised 0.9% growth in June but still lower than the 4.2% decline in July of the previous year.

July's export level was the lowest in three months, since the $4.90 billion seen in April. Imports, on the other hand, slumped by 15.3% to $10.35 billion in July, slightly faster than the revised 15% decline in June and a reversal of the 22.3% growth in July 2022. July marked the sixth consecutive month of declining imports.

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