Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise import fell sharply by 71.3% year-on-year to MOP4.39 billion in July 2022, owing to a decrease in demand for imported goods along with a substantial decline in local economic activity amid the coronavirus pandemic. Imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products, Mobile phones and Watches plunged by 97.1%, 94.5% and 82.6% respectively. Total merchandise export amounted to MOP594 million, down by 47.0% year-on-year. Value of re-exports (MOP462 million) declined by 51.1%, of which re-exports of Watches and Diamond & diamond jewellery tumbled by 74.3% and 63.6% respectively, while those of Articles for casino expanded by 67.0%. Value of domestic exports (MOP132 million) dropped by 24.9%, of which domestic exports of Copper & articles thereof and Garments reduced by 24.9% and 6.7% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit in July totalled MOP3.80 billion.
From January to July this year, total value of merchandise export decreased by 0.4% year-on-year to MOP7.77 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP6.58 billion) fell by 1.9% while value of domestic exports (MOP1.18 billion) grew by 8.4%. Total value of merchandise import dropped by 11.8% year-on-year to MOP78.39 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP70.62 billion for the first seven months of 2022, down by MOP10.45 billion from MOP81.07 billion a year earlier.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP5.90 billion), the USA (MOP395 million) and the EU (MOP113 million) showed respective year-on-year growth of 8.1%, 2.5% and 2.9% from January to July 2022. Meanwhile, exports to mainland China decreased by 33.3% year-on-year to MOP779 million, of which exports to the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP722 million) fell by 32.4%. Exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP220 million) grew by 18.0%, while exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP1 million) slid by 72.1%. Exports of Textiles & garments went up by 30.6% year-on-year to MOP1.06 billion, while exports of Non-textiles dropped by 4.0% to MOP6.71 billion.
By place of origin, merchandise import from the EU (MOP26.93 billion) and mainland China (MOP23.74 billion) in the first seven months of 2022 decreased by 3.1% and 19.8% respectively year-on-year. Imports from the Belt and Road Countries (MOP14.26 billion) fell by 1.7%, while imports from the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP517 million) increased by 33.3%. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Hong Kong (MOP66.08 billion) slid by 13.6% year-on-year. Imports from mainland China grew by 0.8% to MOP9.55 billion, with imports from the Nine Provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP9.37 billion) rising by 1.4%. Imports of Consumer goods went down by 8.9% to MOP57.05 billion, of which imports of Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products (MOP11.58 billion) and Watches (MOP5.59 billion) declined by 17.4% and 24.0% respectively; yet, imports of Food & beverages (MOP9.89 billion) rose by 23.8%. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP3.57 billion) went up by 5.2%, whereas imports of Mobile phones (MOP7.04 billion) and Construction materials (MOP1.63 billion) dipped by 43.1% and 8.6% respectively.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP86.16 billion from January to July 2022, down by 10.9% compared with MOP96.67 billion a year earlier.