External merchandise trade statistics for April 2015

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for April 2015 amounted to MOP953 million, up by 15.2% year-on-year; value of re-exports expanded by 22.3% to MOP824 million, of which re-exports of Clocks & watches soared by 128.7%; however, value of domestic exports dropped by 16.0% to MOP129 million. Total merchandise import declined by 4.3% year-on-year to MOP6.88 billion, of which imports of Gold jewellery and Watches fell by 41.7% and 8.6% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP5.93 billion. In the first four months of 2015, total value of merchandise export grew by 10.7% year-on-year to MOP3.65 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP3.02 billion) and domestic exports (MOP629 million) rose by 12.6% and 2.2% respectively. Total value of merchandise import grew by 1.2% to MOP29.10 billion. Merchandise trade deficit widened to MOP25.45 billion for the first four months of 2015. Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Hong Kong (MOP2.30 billion) and Mainland China (MOP522 million) in the first four months of 2015 increased by 12.2% and 25.1% year-on-year, while export to the EU (MOP83 million) and the USA (MOP67 million) decreased by 19.9% and 31.6% respectively. Exports of Non-textiles increased by 11.6% year-on-year to MOP3.40 billion, of which value of Clocks & watches (MOP576 million) and Tobacco (MOP163 million) rose by 54.8% and 55.7% respectively, but that of Machines, apparatus & parts (MOP435 million) dropped by 24.8%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP254 million, down by 0.5%. By country of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP10.92 billion) in the first four months of 2015 increased by 18.6% year-on-year, while import from the EU (MOP6.70 billion) fell by 9.5%. Imports of Consumer goods dropped by 8.0% to MOP17.02 billion, with imports of Gold jewellery (MOP2.42 billion) decreasing by 33.2%, but that of Food & beverages (MOP4.08 billion) increasing by 11.6%. Moreover, imports of Mobile phones (MOP3.55 billion) expanded by 56.5%. External merchandise trade reached MOP32.76 billion in the first four months of 2015, up by 2.1% compared with MOP32.07 billion a year earlier.