Philippine Export Growth Cools to 5-Month Low

Philippine exports rose 7.9% year-on-year to USD 7.1 billion in January 2026, marking the slowest growth since late August, after a 23.9% surge in December. Exports increased for electronic products (+18.8%), which remained the country’s top export commodity, accounting for 56.5% of total shipments. Outbound sales also rose for gold (+263%) and machinery and transport equipment (+68.4%), but these gains were partially offset by declines in other manufactured goods (-49.8%), coconut oil (-17.5%), other mineral products (-43.2%), chemicals (-23.5%), and copper concentrates (-10.7%). Among key trading partners, exports to the US, the largest export market at 16.4% of total, rose 3.1%. Sales also increased to Hong Kong (+55.1%), South Korea (+49.1%), and Germany (+39.5%), while exports fell to China (-7.1%), Japan (-7.9%), and Thailand (-1.8%).

Philippine exports surged 23.3% year-on-year to USD 7 billion in December 2025, accelerating from an upwardly revised 21.6% gain in the previous month. This represented the strongest annual growth since June, driven primarily by higher sales of electronic products (43.6%), which remained the country’s top export commodity, particularly components/devices and data processing equipment. Exports also increased for machinery and transport equipment (27.7%) and gold (42%). Meanwhile, declines were seen in other manufactured goods (-9.9%), coconut oil (-8.5%), and chemicals (-12.9%). The United States remained the Philippines’ largest export market, accounting for 15.7% of total exports, despite the 19% tariff imposed on Philippine goods in August 2025. Other key export destinations included Hong Kong (15.1%), Japan (14%), China (11.3%), and Singapore (4.7%). For the full year of 2025, Philippine exports reached USD 84.4 billion, marking a 15.2% increase compared to 2024.

Philippine exports soared by 21.3% year-on-year to USD 6.9 billion in November 2025, accelerating from an upwardly revised 20.3% gain in the previous month. This marked the strongest annual growth since June, primarily driven by higher sales of electronic products (50.6%), particularly semiconductors (69.3%), electronic data processing (24.3%), and telecommunication (2.5%). In addition, exports also surged for gold (50.7%) and bananas (38.8%). In contrast, exports declined for other manufactured goods (-16.9%), other mineral products (-41%), and chemicals (-24.3%). Hong Kong held the largest export share (16.9%), followed closely by the US (16.8%), despite the 19% tariff on Philippine goods imposed in late August. Exports also rose to Japan (12.6%), China (10.1%), and Netherlands (4.9%). For the January to November period, the country's exports increased to USD 77.4 billion from USD 67.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.