The country's total external trade in goods went up by 9.6 percent to $17.31 billion in March this year from $15.80 billion a year ago, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on Wednesday.

The PSA data also showed that of the total trade during the month, 61.9 percent were imported goods while 38.1 percent were exported goods.

Total export sales reached $6.59 billion, up by 5.9 percent from the $6.23-billion total export sales in the same month of the previous year.

The PSA said electronic products continued to be the country's top exports in March with total earnings of $3.64 billion. This was followed by manufactured goods with $434.41 million and other mineral products with $246.56 million.

The United States remained the country's biggest export market with export value amounting to $1.11 billion, followed by Hong Kong ($1.01 billion), Japan ($960.50 million), China ($762.78 million), and Singapore ($273.74 million).

The total value of imports, meanwhile, also rose by 11.9 percent to $10.72 billion.

The PSA said electronic products recorded the highest import value at $2.52 billion, accounting for 23.5 percent of the country’s total imports. This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials with $1.31 billion and transport equipment at $1.06 billion.

Top sources of imports include China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.

The PSA, meanwhile, said the balance of trade in goods or the difference between the value of exports and imports amounted to $4.13 billion in March this year, higher by 23.1 percent than the $3.35-billion deficit during the same month last year.

PIXABAY PHOTO