Philippines exports to EU increases 56.2%

The Dollar Business Bureau

The EU was the largest destination of exports for Philippines in March this year. The latest statistics by Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that exports to European Union member countries, with 16.2% share to total merchandise exports amounted to $901.24 million.  It rose by 56.2% from $577.04 million recorded in March 2016.

What was even more interesting was that the export numbers of Philippines to EU for that month overtook those of US which was $809.93 million and Japan $762.43 million.

Several factors contributed to the increase in trade numbers. A strong EU economy and its rising demand saw an increase of 1.9%, a rise in the agri-food sector exports backed by the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) that allows developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the region, tipped the scales in favour of Philippines.

The top Philippine exports to the EU that resulted in it carving a monster share of 17.5% under the GSP scheme are electrical equipment, agricultural oil products, optical products, processed meat, fish, vegetable nuts and fruits.

In the same month the exports of manufactured products increased by 16.5% which is well above the 6.2% that was recorded in February. Electronic goods which are categorised as a sub-category of manufactured goods saw an increase of 19% up from 15.9% seen in February. The PSA revealed that electronic products accounted for the largest share of total export revenues.