External Merchandise Trade Statistics for June 2008

Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that the value of total exports of goods amounted to MOP1.51 billion in June 2008, down by 19.2% year-on-year; the value of domestic exports decreased by 23.2% to MOP977 million, and that of re-exports dropped by 10.4% to MOP535 million. The value of total imports of goods amounted to MOP3.60 billion, up slightly by 0.2% year-on-year. A trade deficit of MOP2.09 billion was recorded for June 2008. In the first half year of 2008, total exports of goods fell by 10.7% year-on-year to MOP8.53 billion, with the value of domestic exports and re-exports declining by 11.8% and 8.7% respectively. Meanwhile, total imports of goods grew by 6.9% to MOP21.45 billion, and the trade deficit for the first half year was widened to MOP12.91 billion. The exports/imports ratio decreased from 47.6% in the first half year of 2007 to 39.8% in the same period of 2008. The value of Textile & garment exports declined by 15.8% year-on-year and its relative importance decreased further to account for 59.9% of the total exports of goods in the first half year of 2008; moreover, the value of Non-textile exports fell slightly by 1.7%, with exports of Machines & apparatus, parts & accessories thereof and Footwear dropping by 50.8% and 56.3% respectively, while exports of Image & sound appliances rose by 69.2%. In the first half year of 2008, the value of exports to the USA, Mainland China and the EU decreased by 6.3%, 40.3% and 40.5% respectively year-on-year, but that to Hong Kong rose by 23.6%. 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 MOP11.13 billion, accounting for 51.9% of the total imports in the first half year of 2008. In terms of broad economic categories, the value of imports of Fuels & lubricants and Consumer goods expanded by 30.5% and 23.5% respectively year-on-year, but that of Raw materials & semi-manufactures and Capital goods decreased by 14.9% and 3.6% respectively.