MACROECONOMICS WEEKLY UPDATE

The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that commodity prices continued their downtrend, slowing to 3.9% in December, resulting in a full-year average of 6%. This December rate falls within the forecast range of 3.6% to 4.4% set by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the month. Despite the cooler December data, the annual average rate for the previous year remained above the government’s target range of 2% to 4%. The BSP has expressed expectations that the inflation rate will return to the target path by the first quarter of the current year.

INDUSTRY UPDATE

VEHICLES

Sales of local vehicle assemblers in 2023 reached 429,807 units last year according to the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).This surpassed the target sales of 423,000 units for 2023.CAMPI and TMA also reported that their vehicle sales grew 21.9 percent in 2023, from 352,596 units sold in 2022Market leaders in the Philippine automotive vehicle industry for 2023 were Toyota, with 46.5 percent market share; followed by Mitsubishi, with 18.2 percent; Ford, with 7.3 percent; Nissan, with 6.3 percent; and Suzuki, with 4.3 percent

IMPORTS

The country’s total export sales in November 2023 amounted to USD 6.13 billion, indicating an annual decrease of 13.7 percent from the USD 7.10 billion total exports in the same month of the previous year.

In October 2023, the total exports recorded an annual decrease of 17.5 percent, while it posted an annual growth of 13.1 percent in November 2022. By major trading partner, exports to the United States of America (USA) comprised the highest export value amounting to USD 970.22 million or a share of 15.8%  to the country’s total exports in November 2023.

 

 

The total imported goods in November 2023 amounted to USD 10.820 billion, indicating an annual increase of 0.02 percent from the USD 10.817 billion import value in the same month of the previous year. In October 2023, import value recorded an annual decline of 2.4 percent, while in November 2022, it exhibited an annual decrease of 1.5 percent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People’s Republic of China was the country’s largest supplier of imported goods valued at USD 2.72 billion or 25.1 percent of the country’s total imports in November 2023.

Completing the top five major import trading partners for this month with their corresponding import values and percent shares to the total imports were:

1. Indonesia, USD 1.01 billion (9.3%);
   b.    Japan, USD 892.17 million (8.2%);
   c.    Republic of Korea, USD 714.24 million (6.6%); and
   d.    USA, USD 654.52 million (6.0%)

ELECTRONICS

 

By commodity group, electronic products continued to be the country’s top exports in November 2023 with total earnings of USD 3.44 billion or 56.1 percent of the country’s total exports during the period. This was followed by other manufactured goods with an export value of USD 334.42 million (5.5%), and other mineral products with USD 230.93 million (3.8%)

 

 

 

 

 

The commodity group with the highest imported value in November 2023 was electronic products, which amounted to USD 2.21 billion or a share of 20.4 percent to the country’s total imports. This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at USD 1.56 billion (14.4%), and transport equipment at USD 1.17 billion (10.8%)