Exports down by 24.7% in June year-on-year

MANILA, Philippines—The value of Philippine merchandise exports continued to decline in June by 24.7 percent year-on-year to $3.41 billion as shipments of electronics slumped.

The latest figures from the National Statistics Office show that exports in the past nine months have been less than what was recorded in the same month the previous year.

The picture looked a bit better, however, for the volume of export from month to month. Exports in June improved by 10.4 percent from the $3.088 billion in revenues posted in May.

Still, total exports in the first half of 2009, reaching $17.225 billion, represented a 32.8 percent dip from the $25.623 billion reported in the same period in 2008.

In June alone, electronics products—which accounted for 57.1 percent of total outbound cargoes—fell by 26 percent year-on-year to $1.948 billion mainly due to the decrease in shipments of components and devices.

Compared to receipts in May, electronics improved by 7.6 percent from $1.811 billion. –Ronnel Domingo, Philippine Daily Inquirer