Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise exports amounted to MOP1.04 billion in May 2024, down by 11.6% year-on-year. Value of re-exports fell by 10.9% to MOP903 million, of which re-exports of Articles for casino and Wine slid by 89.2% and 58.3% respectively, while those of Perfumes and Diamond & diamond jewellery surged by 151.1% and 57.1% respectively. Value of domestic exports dropped by 16.2% to MOP132 million, of which domestic exports of Garments and Bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits & other bakers' wares declined by 50.5% and 44.8% respectively, while those of Pharmaceutical products & organic chemicals rose by 55.1%. Meanwhile, total merchandise imports dipped by 14.2% year-on-year to MOP10.61 billion; imports of Platinum jewellery, Construction materials and Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products reduced by 52.9%, 52.5% and 45.6% respectively, whereas imports of Articles for casino and Pharmaceutical products showed respective growth of 210.7% and 48.6%. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP9.58 billion in May.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP59.59 billion from January to May 2024, down by 7.8% compared to the same period last year (MOP64.63 billion). Total value of merchandise exports grew by 7.1% year-on-year to MOP5.55 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP4.96 billion) increased by 8.2% while value of domestic exports (MOP583 million) decreased by 1.7%. Total value of merchandise imports dropped by 9.1% year-on-year to MOP54.04 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP48.50 billion in the first five months, down by MOP5.78 billion from MOP54.27 billion a year earlier.
Analysed by destination, merchandise exports to the Belt and Road Countries (MOP425 million) and the EU (MOP97 million) expanded by 142.3% and 79.7% respectively year-on-year in the first five months of 2024. On the other hand, exports to mainland China (MOP310 million), Hong Kong (MOP3.83 billion) and the USA (MOP101 million) dropped by 3.2%, 3.6% and 36.9% respectively. Exports of Textiles & garments grew by 5.3% year-on-year to MOP576 million, and exports of Non-textiles went up by 7.3% to MOP4.97 billion.
By place of origin, merchandise imports from the EU (MOP16.49 billion), mainland China (MOP15.33 billion) and the Belt and Road Countries (MOP12.35 billion) decreased by 17.5%, 2.9% and 9.0% respectively year-on-year in the first five months, while those from Hong Kong (MOP3.18 billion) grew by 19.3%. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise imports from Hong Kong (MOP42.82 billion) fell by 12.9% year-on-year, whereas imports from mainland China (MOP8.32 billion) grew by 6.1%. Imports of Consumer goods went down by 13.2% to MOP39.74 billion, of which imports of Food & beverages (MOP8.72 billion), Gold jewellery (MOP5.21 billion) and Beauty, cosmetic & skincare products (MOP4.52 billion) shrank by 16.0%, 9.3% and 23.9% respectively. Imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP2.99 billion) rose by 13.4%, whereas imports of Mobile phones (MOP1.45 billion) and Construction materials (MOP941 million) slid by 39.4% and 27.0% respectively.