Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for May 2019 amounted to MOP908 million, down by 15.5% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP786 million) decreased by 15.7%, with that of Machines, apparatus & parts falling by 48.6%. Value of domestic exports (MOP122 million) dropped by 14.5%, with that of Copper & articles thereof decreasing by 31.9%. Total merchandise import rose by 3.5% year-on-year to MOP7.26 billion, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products, Watches and Food & beverages expanded by 29.3%, 17.7% and 9.2% respectively; meanwhile, imports of Mobile phones, Construction materials and Motor cars & motorcycles declined by 51.9%, 16.2% and 12.9% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit in May totalled MOP6.35 billion.
From January to May 2019, total value of merchandise export increased by 7.0% year-on-year to MOP5.50 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP4.94 billion) grew by 10.7% but that of domestic exports (MOP559 million) declined by 17.3%. Total value of merchandise import fell by 0.4% year-on-year to MOP35.83 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP30.33 billion for the first five months of 2019.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to mainland China decreased by 19.5% year-on-year to MOP665 million from January to May 2019, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP639 million) declined by 20.4%. Meanwhile, exports to Hong Kong (MOP3.72 billion), the USA (MOP80 million) and the EU (MOP75 million) grew by 14.3%, 47.5% and 7.4% respectively. Exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP0.91 million) expanded by 64.4% year-on-year, while exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP63 million) dropped by 50.1%. Exports of Non-textiles went up by 5.3% year-on-year to MOP5.11 billion, of which value of Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products (MOP262 million) surged by 348.5%, but that of Articles for casino (MOP65 million) fell by 55.3%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP388 million, up by 35.0%.
By place of origin, merchandise import from mainland China (MOP11.95 billion) decreased by 4.6% year-on-year in the first five months of 2019. On the other hand, imports from the EU (MOP9.72 billion), the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP369 million) and the Belt and Road Countries (MOP4.97 billion) increased by 5.5%, 14.8% and 77.9% respectively. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from mainland China grew by 4.5% year-on-year to MOP5.45 billion, of which imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP5.29 billion) rose by 5.2%. Imports of Consumer goods went up by 7.6% to MOP24.97 billion, with imports of Garments & footwear (MOP3.54 billion) and Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products (MOP2.57 billion) rising by 23.8% and 34.4% respectively; in addition, imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP2.79 billion) grew by 1.3%, whereas imports of Mobile phones (MOP2.22 billion) and Construction materials (MOP613 million) dropped by 32.1% and 36.5% respectively.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP41.33 billion from January to May 2019, up by 0.5% compared with MOP41.12 billion a year earlier.