Value of total exports of goods up in Jan

28 Feb '08

2 min read

The Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) released February 28 the external merchandise trade statistics for January 2008. In January 2008, the values of Hong Kong's total exports and imports of goods recorded significant year-on-year increases of 15.8% and 16.9% respectively.

In January 2008, the value of total exports of goods (comprising re-exports and domestic exports) increased by 15.8% over a year earlier to $240.1 billion, after a year-on-year increase of 8.2% in December 2007. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 16.4% to $231.6 billion in January 2008, while the value of domestic exports increased by 0.8% to $8.5 billion.

Concurrently, the value of imports of goods increased by 16.9% over a year earlier to $247.6 billion in January 2008, after a year-on-year increase of 10.3% in December 2007. A visible trade deficit of $7.5 billion, equivalent to 3.0% of the value of imports of goods, was recorded in January 2008.

Comparing the three-month period ending January 2008 with the preceding three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of total exports of goods rose by 4.4%. Within this total, the value of re-exports increased by 4.5%, while the value of domestic exports went up by 2.2%. Meanwhile, the value of imports of goods increased by 5.0%.

Analysis by country/territory:
Comparing January 2008 with January 2007, exports to Asia as a whole grew by 20.0%. In this region, strong increases were registered in the values of total exports to some major destinations, in particular India (+140.0%), Malaysia (+38.0%), Indonesia (+37.9%), Thailand (+27.0%) and the mainland of China (the Mainland) (+20.4%).

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