THE country’s trade deficit narrowed in December amid continued growth in exports and imports, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed on Tuesday.
The $3.52-billion shortfall — from exports worth $6.99 billion and imports totaling $10.52 billion — was markedly lower than the year-earlier $4.15 billion and November’s $3.95 billion.
The value of all shipments — $17.51 billion — fell from the previous month’s $17.81 billion but was significantly higher compared to the $15.49 billion seen in December 2024.
Exports growth improved to 23.3 percent year on year from 21.67 percent in November and also rebounded from the year-ago drop of 1.9 percent. Imports rose by a higher 7.1 percent from November’s 2.3 percent and December 2024’s -1.4 percent.
The full-year trade balance for 2025 improved to a deficit of $49.16 billion from $54.33 billion a year earlier. Exports totaled $84.4 billion, up 15.2 percent from $73.27 billion in 2024, while imports grew by 4.7 percent to $133.57 billion from $127.59 billion.
Last year’s exports were the highest on record based on historical data since 1991, the PSA said, while imports also hit a three-year peak.
Total external trade came in at $217.98 billion for 2025, 13.0-percent higher compared to 2024’s $200.86 billion.
Electronics still on top
Electronics remained the country’s top export at $4.04 billion in December, accounting for 57.8 percent of the total and surging from $2.82 billion a year earlier. Next were other manufactured goods ($320.06 million, 4.6 percent) and machinery and transport equipment ($295.57 million, 4.2 percent).
The United States was the biggest buyer of Philippine-made goods, having purchased $1.1 billion worth or 15.7 percent of all outbound merchandise shipments.
Rounding out the top five were Hong Kong ($1.05 billion, 15.1 percent), Japan ($975.84 million, 14.0 percent), China ($790.15 million, 11.3 percent) and Singapore ($329.46 million, 4.7 percent).
Electronics were also the top import for the month at $2.66 billion for a 25.3-percent share of the total, followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials ($1.46 billion, 13.8 percent) and transport equipment ($1.03 billion, 9.8 percent).
China was the largest supplier with shipments worth a total of $2.98 billion or 28.4 percent of December imports.
South Korea took second place ($1.03 billion, 9.8 percent) and the rest of the top five comprised Indonesia ($712.78 million, 6.78 percent), Japan ($712.14 million, 6.77 percent) and the United States ($662.11 million, 6.3 percent).
Electronics also took the lion’s share of full-year exports, rising 17.6 percent to $45.96 billion from $39.09 billion in 2024, and were still the top merchandise import at $31.94 billion — up 16.7 percent from $27.38 billion a year earlier.
The US ended 2025 as the Philippines’ top export destination on shipments worth $13.44 billion, which rose from $12.14 billion in 2024. Its share of the total, however, slipped to 15.9 percent from 16.6 percent.
China — the biggest source of imports for the year — grew its share of the total to 28.6 percent from 25.7 percent as deliveries surged to $38.22 billion from $32.83 billion.