Trade deficit narrows to $3.95 billion in June

THE Philippines’ trade-in-goods deficit narrowed to $3.95 billion in June, as double-digit export growth was driven by frontloading in the run-up to higher US tariffs, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said on Wednesday.

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Preliminary data from the PSA showed the country’s balance of trade in goods — the difference between the values of exports and imports — stood at a $3.95-billion deficit in June, slimmer than the $4.34-billion gap a year earlier. It was the widest trade deficit since the $3.97-billion gap seen in April.

Month on month, the trade gap widened from the revised $3.63-billion deficit in May.

Outbound shipments of Philippine-made goods jumped by 26.1% year on year to $7.02 billion in June, marking the sixth straight month of annual expansion. This was also the fastest growth in exports since 28.2% in April 2024.

Month on month, exports slid by 4% from $7.31 billion in May. Export receipts for June were also the lowest since $6.78 billion in April.

On the other hand, the value of imports picked up 10.8% year on year to $10.98 billion in June from $9.9 billion in the same month a year ago.

The growth in imports was the fastest since 17.8% logged in March.

Month on month, imports inched up by 0.3% from $10.95 billion in May.

For the first semester, the trade deficit narrowed to $23.97 billion from the $25.06-billion deficit a year ago.

The country’s balance of trade in goods has been in the red for over a decade or since the $64.95-million surplus in May 2015.

In the January-to-June period, exports increased by 13.2% to $41.24 billion, while imports rose by 6% to $65.22 billion.

Pantheon Macroeconomics Chief Emerging Asia Economist Miguel Chanco said in a research note that trade was “flattered hugely by base effects in June,” as exports and imports saw a decline last year.

“The widening of the trade deficit would’ve been more pronounced if not for the still-favorable seasonal effects in play, particularly on the export side,” he said.