Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that the value of total merchandise export for March 2011 amounted to MOP613 million, down by 18.6% year-on-year, of which value of re-exports decreased by 26.1% to MOP410 million, but that of domestic exports increased by 2.1% to MOP203 million. Value of exports of Knitted or crocheted garment decreased by 33.5% year-on-year, while that of Textile fabrics rose substantially by 106.3%. Value of total merchandise import amounted to MOP4.80 billion in March 2011, up by 38.7% year-on-year. Value of imports of Capital goods surged by 74.7%, of which imports of Mobile phones soared continuously by 118.8%. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP4.18 billion in March 2011. In the first quarter of 2011, total value of merchandise export decreased by 10.8% year-on-year to MOP1.63 billion, of which value of re-exports declined by 15.9%, but that of domestic exports rose slightly by 0.7%; meanwhile, total value of merchandise import rose by 34.2% to MOP13.19 billion. Merchandise trade deficit for the first quarter of 2011 widened by 44.4% to MOP11.56 billion; the exports/imports ratio dropped by 6.2 percentage points year-on-year to 12.3%. Value of merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP734 million), Mainland China (MOP232 million) and the USA (MOP153 million) in the first quarter of 2011 decreased by 12.3%, 13.4% and 26.4% respectively year-on-year; however, exports to the EU (MOP98 million) increased by 2.7%. Exports of Jewellery (MOP114 million) decreased by 61.4%, but that of Tobacco & wine (MOP139 million) and Clocks & watches (MOP98 million) grew by 62.8% and 45.6% respectively; meanwhile, exports of Textile & garment declined by 11.5% to MOP337 million. In the first quarter of 2011, value of merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP3.86 billion) and the EU (MOP3.40 billion) expanded by 29.2% and 55.9% respectively year-on-year. Imports of Consumer goods soared by 36.5% to MOP8.08 billion, of which imports of Food & beverages (MOP1.98 billion), Gold jewellery (MOP1.07 billion) and Handbags & wallets (MOP682 million) increased by 34.0%, 35.9% and 98.6% respectively. Moreover, imports of Capital goods (MOP2.43 billion) registered year-on-year increase of 70.6%. In the first quarter of 2011, total value of merchandise import and export amounted to MOP14.82 billion, up by 27.2% compared with MOP11.65 billion from a year earlier.
