Imports of goods up by 13.7% in volume

17 Apr '08

3 min read

Further to the external merchandise trade statistics in value terms for February 2008 released earlier on, the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released April 17 the volume and price statistics of external merchandise trade for that month.

As the trade flows in January and February of each year tend to show considerable volatilities due to differences in timing of the Lunar New Year Holidays, it is useful to analyse the trade figures for these two months taken together.

Comparing the first two months of 2008 with the same period in 2007, the volume of Hong Kong's re-exports of goods rose by 11.4%, whereas that of domestic exports decreased by 2.6%. Taken together, the volume of total exports of goods grew by 10.9%. Concurrently, the imports of goods increased by 13.7% in volume.

In February 2008, the volume of Hong Kong's re-exports of goods increased by 5.9% over February 2007, whereas that of domestic exports decreased by 4.5%. Taken together, the volume of total exports of goods increased by 5.5%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods increased by 9.8%.

Comparing the three-month period ending February 2008 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the volume of total exports of goods increased by 3.0%. Within this total, the volume of re-exports increased by 3.5%, whereas that of domestic exports decreased by 7.0%. Concurrently, the volume of imports of goods increased by 1.0%.

Changes in volume of external merchandise trade are derived from changes in external merchandise trade value with the effect of price changes discounted.

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