PHILIPPINE exports performed strongly last year, prompting Trade Secretary Cristina Roque to say that the country’s products are ready for other markets.
“We’ve done very well, just by the numbers,“ Roque said on Friday, noting that with free trade negotiations with Chile, and another planned with Canada, “we can [further] boost exports.“
Exports jumped by over 20 percent for three consecutive months in the final quarter of 2025, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported. In December 2025 alone, exports surged 23.3 percent year-on-year to $6.99 billion.
In particular, merchandise shipments totaled 84.41 billion in 2025, 15.2-percent higher than the $73.27 billion in 2024, and the country’s highest export value in history.
Merchandise exports include commodities, raw materials, and manufactured items such as electronics, clothing, and machinery. These products are key to measuring trade balance and economic performance, separate from services exports.
Despite a 19-percent tariff imposed by the United States — the Philippines’ largest market — in August 2025, exports continued growing through diversification into other markets and robust revenue from agricultural products.
Exports are forecast to maintain momentum, with potential for electronics to reach $50 billion this year due to demand for artificial intelligence Internet of Things (IoT), and electric vehicles.
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In January, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates signed an FTA, a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), with Roque and UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, in the presence of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
In 2024, trade between the two countries totaled $1.83 billion, with $390.4 million in Philippine exports to the UAE, its 18th largest trading partner.
Free trade negotiations with Canada may start in the first quarter, Trade Undersecretary Allan Gepty said, noting that exploratory talks began in December 2024.
In 2024, trade between the two countries totaled C$3.2 billion, with Philippine exports amounting to C$1.8 billion and Canadian imports at C$1.4 billion.
Negotiations for Philippine-Chile CEPA opened also in 2024 and is expected to be signed this year, the country’s first with a Latin American state.
In 2023, the total bilateral trade between the two countries was $141.24 million.
