External Merchandise Trade Statistics for September 2008

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the value of total imports and exports of goods registered year-on-year decreases in September 2008. The value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP1.44 billion, down by 19.5% year-on-year; the value of domestic exports decreased by 33.4% to MOP772 million, but that of re-exports increased by 6.0% to MOP670 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP3.59 billion, down by 1.4% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.15 billion was recorded for September 2008. From January to September 2008, total exports of goods fell by 13.9% year-on-year to MOP12.89 billion, with the value of domestic exports and re-exports declining by 19.2% and 4.1% respectively. Meanwhile, total imports of goods grew by 3.9% to MOP32.77 billion, and the trade deficit in the first nine months of 2008 was widened to MOP19.88 billion. The exports/imports ratio decreased from 47.5% in the first nine months of 2007 to 39.3% in the same period of 2008. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 22.4% year-on-year and its relative importance decreased further to account for 58.5% of the total exports of goods in the first nine months of 2008; moreover, the value of Non-textile exports grew by 1.7%, with exports of Image & sound appliances increasing by 52.6%, but exports of Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof and Footwear registered decreases of 48.5% and 63.3% respectively. In the first nine months of 2008, the value of exports to the USA, Mainland China and the EU decreased by 11.6%, 37.8% and 50.9% respectively year-on-year, but that to Hong Kong rose by 22.6%. The main suppliers of imported goods to Macao concentrated in the Asian region. The value of imports from Mainland China and Hong Kong amounted to MOP16.59 billion, accounting for 50.6% of the total imports in the first nine months of 2008. In terms of broad economic categories, the value of imports of Fuels & lubricants and Consumer goods expanded by 22.0% and 19.6% respectively year-on-year, but that of Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Capital goods decreased by 18.2% and 5.5% respectively.