Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that total merchandise export for December 2016 amounted to MOP753 million, down by 16.1% year-on-year; value of re-exports (MOP597 million) dropped by 17.1%, with that of Machines, apparatus & parts (MOP64 million) falling by 31.3%; meanwhile, value of domestic exports (MOP156 million) slid by 12.2%, with that of Tobacco (MOP42 million) decreasing by 32.2%. Total merchandise import dropped by 2.9% year-on-year to MOP6.78 billion, of which imports of Motor cars and Mobile phones declined by 52.5% and 46.1% respectively. Merchandise trade deficit amounted to MOP6.03 billion.
In the fourth quarter of 2016, total value of merchandise export (MOP2.31 billion) and merchandise import (MOP19.61 billion) fell by 8.7% and 7.3% respectively year-on-year, resulting in a trade deficit of MOP17.30 billion.
For the whole year of 2016, total value of merchandise export dropped by 6.0% year-on-year to MOP10.05 billion, of which value of re-exports (MOP8.08 billion) decreased by 8.9%, but that of domestic exports (MOP1.96 billion) increased by 7.8%. Owing to the decline in demand for products, such as Motor cars (-55.1%), Mobile phones (-40.0%) and Watches (-23.3%), total value of merchandise import fell by 15.7% year-on-year to MOP71.35 billion. Merchandise trade deficit totalled MOP61.31 billion in 2016.
Analysed by destination, merchandise export to Mainland China decreased by 4.7% year-on-year to MOP1.75 billion in 2016, of which exports to the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP1.64 billion) fell by 7.4%, and exports to Hong Kong (MOP5.56 billion) dropped by 12.1%. Meanwhile, exports to the EU (MOP175 million) and the USA (MOP156 million) reduced by 22.7% and 20.6% respectively, whereas exports to the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP6 million) jumped by 594.6%. Exports of Non-textiles declined by 5.1% year-on-year to MOP9.36 billion, of which value of Machines, apparatus & parts (MOP825 million) dropped by 28.8%, but that of Tobacco & wine (MOP832 million) grew by 35.6%. Exports of Textiles & garments totalled MOP691 million, down by 16.8%.
By place of origin, merchandise import from Mainland China (MOP25.84 billion) and the EU (MOP17.03 billion) in 2016 decreased by 18.9% and 9.6% respectively year-on-year. However, imports from the Portuguese-speaking Countries (MOP666 million) increased by 10.7%. Analysed by place of consignment, merchandise import from Mainland China declined by 5.3% to MOP12.02 billion, of which imports from the nine provinces of the Pan Pearl River Delta (MOP11.35 billion) fell by 6.4%. Imports of Consumer goods dropped by 11.5% to MOP44.74 billion, with imports of Watches (MOP4.78 billion) and Motor cars & motorcycles (MOP1.33 billion) decreasing by 23.3% and 53.5% respectively. Moreover, value of imports of Fuels & lubricants (MOP6.11 billion), Mobile phones (MOP4.79 billion) and Construction materials (MOP1.96 billion) declined by 11.4%, 40.0% and 37.7% respectively.
External merchandise trade totalled MOP81.40 billion in 2016, down by 14.6% compared with MOP95.36 billion in 2015.