Philippines Trade Deficit Narrows in May

2025-06-27 01:39 By Erika Ordonez 1 min. read

The Philippines’ trade deficit narrowed to USD 3.3 billion in May 2025 from USD 4.7 billion in the same month last year, as exports rose while imports fell.

Year-on-year, exports climbed by 15.1% to USD 7.3 billion, driven by higher sales of gold (102.2%), other manufactured goods (70.6%), and copper concentrates (67.6%).

The US accounted for the largest share of exports (15.3%), followed by Hong Kong (15.2%), Japan (14.3%), and China (10.2%).

Meanwhile, imports dropped by 4.4% to USD 10.6 billion, mainly due to reduced purchases of mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (-39.6%), cereals and cereal preparations (-16.4%), and iron and steel (-12.2%).

China remained the top import source, accounting for 29.7% of total imports, followed by Indonesia (8.5%), Japan (7.6%), and South Korea (6.4%).

Considering the first five months of the year, the trade deficit decreased to USD 19.7 billion, compared to USD 20.7 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year.



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