Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for December 2018 amounted to MOP1.04 billion, up by 15.4% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP923 million) increased by 23.8%, with that of Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products surging by 322.1%. However, value of domestic exports (MOP120 million) dropped by 24.0%, with that of Pharmaceutical products & organic chemicals and Tobacco falling by 27.6% and 18.8% respectively. Total merchandise import rose by 0.5% year-on-year to MOP7.98 billion, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products and Garments & footwear expanded by 29.9% and 22.6% respectively, but that of Mobile phones fell by 41.0%. Merchandise trade deficit in December amounted to MOP6.94 billion.
In the fourth quarter of 2018, total value of merchandise export (MOP3.13 billion) and merchandise import (MOP24.41 billion) grew by 15.1% and 12.6% respectively year-on-year, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP21.28 billion.
For the whole year of 2018, total value of merchandise export increased by 8.1% year-on-year to MOP12.19 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP10.66 billion) grew by 12.3%, but that of domestic exports (MOP1.53 billion) declined by 14.3%. Total value of merchandise import grew by 18.8% year-on-year to MOP90.10 billion, of which imports of Mobile phones, Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products and Watches went up by 52.4%, 51.5% and 25.6% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit reached MOP77.91 billion in 2018.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta increased by 2.7% year-on-year to MOP1.96 billion in 2018, but exports to Shanghai (MOP27 million) dropped by 84.7%, resulting in a 5.1% decrease in exports to Mainland China (MOP2.01 billion). Exports to Hong Kong (MOP7.57 billion) and the EU (MOP209 million) rose by 14.7% and 10.0% respectively, whereas exports to the USA (MOP129 million) declined by 30.4%. Meanwhile, exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP25 million) surged by 2,904.2% year-on-year, with that of Pharmaceutical products & organic chemicals jumping by 4,045.7%, whereas exports to the Belt & Road Countries outside of Greater China (MOP346 million) fell by 3.2%. Exports of Non-textiles went up by 10.3% year-on-year to MOP11.50 billion, of which value of Machines, apparatus & parts (MOP2.56 billion) grew by 93.1%, but that of Electronic components (MOP491 million) declined by 33.8%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP693 million, down by 19.3%.
By place of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP31.52 billion) and the EU (MOP22.53 billion) increased by 22.7% and 18.1% respectively year-on-year in 2018. Moreover, imports from the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP790 million) and the Belt & Road Countries outside of Greater China (MOP7.86 billion) rose by 21.9% and 17.6% respectively. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Mainland China expanded by 12.9% year-on-year to MOP13.67 billion, of which imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP13.25 billion) rose by 14.9%. Imports of Consumer goods went up by 17.9% to MOP58.38 billion, with imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skin-care products (MOP4.87 billion) and Watches (MOP6.54 billion) rising by 51.5% and 25.6% respectively; in addition, imports of Mobile phones (MOP7.30 billion), Fuels & lubricants (MOP7.28 billion) and Construction materials (MOP2.00 billion) grew by 52.4%, 13.3% and 7.8% respectively.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP102.30 billion in 2018, up by 17.4% compared with MOP87.13 billion in 2017.