The city’s trade activity posted a year-on-year increase of 11.4 per cent in total value, boosted by increased exports, the official data released last Friday by the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows.
For the month, total trade value reached MOP6.09 billion, with the value of exports surging by 27.2 per cent year-on-year to MOP904.3 million, while that of imports also grew by 9.1 per cent year-on-year to MOP5.18 billion.
Of the total imports, the value of watches jumped by half during the month, totalling MOP386.1 million, while that of gold jewellery and handbags & wallets rose by 20.6 per cent and 18.5 per cent year-on-year, amounting to MOP483.4 million and MOP255.9 million, respectively.
In addition, imports of food & beverages, garments & footwear and mobile phones registered single digit increases, amounting to MOP743.5 million, MOP479.3 million and MOP343.9 million, respectively.
However, imports of construction materials dropped by 12.7 per cent year-on-year to MOP112.3 million.
For the whole month, the city’s imports from the European Union jumped by 16.1 per cent year-on-year to MOP1.4 billion, accounting for some 27 per cent of the total. Meanwhile, those from Mainland China went up slightly by 1.6 per cent year-on-year to MOP1.64 billion, accounting for 31.6 per cent of the total.
Surging exports
On the other hand, the city’s exports of non-textiles rose by 32.4 per cent year-on-year to MOP855 million for the month. In particular, that of diamonds & diamond jewellery soared by 93.6 per cent year-on-year to MOP117.6 million, while exports of tobacco & wine nearly doubled from one year ago to MOP63.8 million. Exports of watches and electronic components also increased by 8.5 per cent and 14.2 per cent year-on-year, amounting to MOP95.9 million and MOP76 million for the month,
However, total exports of textiles and garments registered a drop of 24.4 per cent year-on-year to some MOP49.3 million.
Hong Kong remained the biggest destination for the city’s merchandise exports, with exports to the neighbouring city jumping by half to MOP609.4 million for the month, followed by Mainland China, which received a total of MOP122.5 million worth of exports from the MSAR, increasing by 23.4 per cent year-on-year.
For the first two months of the year, the total trade value of the MSAR reached MOP13.6 billion, rising by 2.8 per cent year-on-year. Of the total, imports accounted for MOP11.7 billion and exports reached MOP1.88 billion, expanding by 1.6 per cent and 11.2 per cent year-on-year, respectively.
