Philippine Imports Rise 21.9% in May

Philippine imports climbed by 21.9% year-on-year to USD 13.4 billion in May 2026, following an upwardly revised 27.3% rise in the previous month. The increase was largely driven by a 93.3% jump in electronic products, mainly semiconductor components (+125.8%), followed by electronic data processing (+43.8%) and communication/radar (+42.9%). Inbound shipments also rose sharply for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (+35.6%) and telecommunication equipment and electrical machinery (+21.2%), partially offset by declines in transport equipment (-24.3%) and iron and steel (-14.5%). Among the country’s largest trading partners, China remained the top supplier, accounting for 29.4% of total imports, with purchases rising 31.9%. Arrivals also surged from South Korea (+153.9%), Malaysia (84.2%), and Singapore (+20.2%). For the first five months of the year, total imports grew by 16.2% to USD 63.1 billion.

Philippine imports climbed by 22.4% year-on-year to USD 13.2 billion in April 2026, accelerating from an upwardly revised 17% rise in the previous month. This marked the strongest growth in imports since August 2022, largely driven by a 78.2% surge in electronic products, mainly semiconductor components (+104.6%), followed by medical/industrial instrumentation (+38.4%), control and instrumentation (+36.2%), and communication/radar (+30.7%). Arrivals also rose sharply for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (+105.6%), partially offset by declines in transport equipment (-41%) and cereals and cereal preparations (-15.9%). Among the country’s largest trading partners, China remained the top supplier, accounting for 28.8% of total imports, with purchases rising 25.1%. Inbound shipments also increased from South Korea (+11.6%), Japan (+8.2%), Malaysia (+5%), and Indonesia (+6.7%). For the January -April period, total imports grew by 13.5% to USD 49.2 billion.

Philippine imports rose by 12.3% year-on-year to a record high of USD 12.7 billion in March 2026, following a 16.6% growth in the previous month. The increase was largely driven by a sharp 44.2% rise in imports of electronic products, particularly semiconductor components (+61%), communication/radar (+30.5%), and medical/industrial instrumentation (+23.9%). Arrivals also increased for mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials (+35.1%) and cereals and cereal preparations (+33.6%), partially offset by declines in transport equipment (-16.3%), industrial machinery and equipment (-9.9%), and iron and steel (-16.2%). Among the country’s largest trading partners, China remained the top supplier, accounting for 28.5% of total imports, with imports rising 9.3%. Imports also increased from South Korea (+89.3%), the US (+25.8%), Malaysia (+33.4%), and Singapore (+23.9%). For January–March, total imports increased 8.9% to USD 35.5 billion.