MANILA – The surge of Philippines’ merchandise exports increased by 15.7 percent in February 2024 with a recorded USD 5.9 billion, compared to the USD 5.1 billion earlier last year, mainly driven by the robust upturn in the semiconductor industry.
In a statement released by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), it mentions the preliminary data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), showing the significant growth as a promising indicator for the Philippine economy.
According to PSA data, the positive momentum continued into the first two months of 2024, with total merchandise exports surging to 12.3 percent or a recorded USD 11.8 billion, compared to the USD 10.5 billion posted in the same period last year.
PSA data further shows that electronic products, which constitute nearly 63 percent of the country’s exports, expanded by 26.8 percent, recording a USD 3.4 billion in February 2024.
The growth was primarily driven by the 31.9 percent increase in semiconductor exports, which reached USD 2.65 billion, DTI said.
This is the highest value of semiconductor exports recorded in February over the past decade, DTI added.
Earlier, the Semiconductor Industry Association highlighted the significant increase of global semiconductor sales with a 16.3 percent increase in February this year totalling to USD 46.2 billion, which is the largest year-on-year growth since May 2022, projecting a continued market growth throughout the year.
"The robust export performance in February, following the year-on-year increase of 9.1% in the previous month, marks a promising start to the year for the Philippine export sector. The electronics sector is evidently recovering, even catching up with the export figures from two years ago,” said DTI Secretary Fred Pascual.
“We are hopeful that this growth momentum will be sustained in the coming months. We will continue to collaborate closely with the private sectors, government agencies, and development partners to improve the Philippines’ export environment and build on this export growth,” Pascual added.
Based on data from DTI, among the country’s top export markets, the United States, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, the Netherlands, and Taiwan recorded double-digit increases in imports from the Philippines.
Data also shows that Hong Kong notably recorded the largest increase, with imports growing by 45.6% year-on-year and 38.8% year-to-date. In contrast, Singapore witnessed a significant decline in imports from the Philippines for both year-on-year and year-to-date periods.
